EARLY RELEASE FROM DRUG COURT WORKING

U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo's report to a presidential commission cited alarming
statistics on methamphetamine use in Hawai'i. The judiciary has taken
effective measures toward reducing recidivism to crime with the
implementation of the Hawai'i drug courts, which divert felony drug
offenders from incarceration into intense, court-supervised drug treatment
requiring daily drug testing and counseling, monitored by a judge for up to
18 months.

Judges use intermediate jail sanctions for program noncompliance and provide
incentives for clients upon their success throughout the program. Offenders'
criminal charges are dismissed upon successful completion. With only a 14
percent recidivism rate on a national average, drug courts are proven to be
the most successful way to treat drug offenders.

County funding has enabled the Maui drug court to be the only drug court in
Hawai'i to implement an early release program for sentenced offenders to
re-enter the community before parole eligibility, under the supervision of
the judge. Funding is needed for the expansion of such diversion and
re-integration programs within the state's drug court and prison system.

For every dollar spent on drug courts, 10 dollars are saved from
incarceration.

Jon Kinimaka

Lahaina, Maui