COUNTY WANTS QUICK JUSTICE FOR METH CASES

Task Force Would Prevent Cases Clogging Court System

Spokane County officials fed up with the methamphetamine industry and its
ugly offshoots want to attack the problem at its source: manufacturers and
distributors of the highly addictive drug.

An anti-meth task force would concentrate on pushing felony meth-related
cases through the criminal justice system, placing a special emphasis on
cooks and dealers.

If approved by commissioners, the two-year project would begin in February.

The idea is to ensure people arrested for cooking meth are prosecuted as
quickly as possible and sent to state prison if convicted, said County
Commissioner Phil Harris, who conceived the idea. Currently, prosecutors
have a backlog of hundreds of meth cases.

Quick justice would reduce the amount of meth on the street and might
decrease the number of meth-related crimes committed in the region -- like
vehicle prowlings, burglaries and robberies, Harris said.

That, in turn, would reduce the social costs the public is forced to pay to
repair families torn apart by drugs, he said.

"I think we'll save a lot of money in the long run," the commissioner said.

Harris said Tuesday he came up with the idea after hearing reports from
sheriff's deputies of finding children during raids of homes where meth was
being made.

Sheriff Mark Sterk estimates children are present at 50 percent or more of
the meth labs his deputies bust.

"When I saw what was happening to our kids, I came unglued," Harris said.
"I'm madder than hell at this meth stuff. This is something I want to go
after."

As currently proposed, the team would be composed of two prosecutors, at
least one defense attorney, a judge and the clerks and secretaries
necessary to support them. The make-up may change in the coming weeks as
county officials decide what they need to make the task force work.

Interim Public Defender Rich Fasy said Tuesday he'll need at least two
additional assistant public defenders in his office to handle the number of
cases in question.

The endeavor is expected to cost at least $500,000 per year.

Harris and fellow commissioners Kate McCaslin and John Roskelley have given
their tentative approval to pay for the team out of the county's reserve fund.

"I think it's a great idea," Roskelley said.

The idea is to ensure people arrested for cooking meth are prosecuted as
quickly as possible and sent to state prison if convicted, said County
Commissioner Phil Harris, who conceived the idea. Currently, prosecutors
have a backlog of hundreds of meth cases.

Quick justice would reduce the amount of meth on the street and might
decrease the number of meth-related crimes committed in the region -- like
vehicle prowlings, burglaries and robberies, Harris said.

That, in turn, would reduce the social costs the public is forced to pay to
repair families torn apart by drugs, he said.

"I think we'll save a lot of money in the long run," the commissioner said.

Harris said Tuesday he came up with the idea after hearing reports from
sheriff's deputies of finding children during raids of homes where meth was
being made.

Sheriff Mark Sterk estimates children are present at 50 percent or more of
the meth labs his deputies bust.

"When I saw what was happening to our kids, I came unglued," Harris said.
"I'm madder than hell at this meth stuff. This is something I want to go
after."

As currently proposed, the team would be comprised of two prosecutors, at
least one defense attorney, a judge and the clerks and secretaries
necessary to support them. The make-up may change in the coming weeks as
county officials decide what they need to make the task force work.

Interim Public Defender Rich Fasy said Tuesday he'll need at least two
additional assistant public defenders in his office to handle the number of
cases in question.

The endeavor is expected to cost at least $500,000 per year.

Harris and fellow commissioners Kate McCaslin and John Roskelley have given
their tentative approval to pay for the team out of the county's reserve fund.

"I think it's a great idea," Roskelley said.

Sterk, Prosecutor Steve Tucker and Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen said
Tuesday the team is badly needed to attack a problem that is clogging the
court system, crowding the jail and taking a toll on society.

Deputy Prosecutor John Grasso estimated there is a backlog of up to 1,200
unprosecuted meth cases in the county's files, as many as 120 of them for
manufacturing.

Eitzen said she wasn't surprised.

"Seventy-five percent of the criminal cases I see are drugs. Seventy-five
percent of those are meth," she said. "It's eating us alive."

The problem isn't law enforcement, Harris said, pointing out that the
Sheriff's Office is busting labs at a record pace.

The problem is there aren't enough prosecutors, defense attorneys and
judges to adjudicate the cases once an arrest is made, he said.

That means the courts are forced to put some manufacturers and dealers back
on the streets where they continue to commit crimes, costing society more
money and pain, Harris said.

"The sheriff's out there doing double duty," he said. "He's going out and
arresting them again and again."

McCaslin agreed.

"They think nothing's happening to them, and they're right," McCaslin said.

Sterk, Tucker, Eitzen and Fasy will spend the next two weeks coming up with
a plan to implement the task force. They are scheduled to report back to
commissioners Dec. 17.

"I'm not naive enough to believe we'll stop meth manufacturers altogether,"
Harris said. "What I do believe is that we'll run them out of our county."