DRUG COURT DELIVERS COMPASSIONATE JUDGMENT

CHATSWORTH - Drug court is a new way to treat first-time felony offenders
with drug addictions so they get treatment and a chance to turn their lives
around, according to Superior Court Judge Jack Partain.

Partain told a group at a luncheon hosted by the Chatsworth-Murray County
Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club about the program Thursday.

Drug court is a world apart from ordinary criminal court, he said.

"In regular court, you have defendants; in drug court we have
participants," Partain said. "In regular court you have a determination of
guilt and a sentence; in drug court we have a determination of addiction
and an order for treatment."

The differences are numerous and significant, Partain said.

In most criminal courts, offenders are separated from the community, but in
drug court they are encouraged to be a part of the community, he said.

Mandated punishment is replaced with individualized treatment programs. One
court appearance is replaced with a court appearance every week.

While a defendant's family is rarely considered in a traditional court
case, in drug court the family is an integral part of the program, Partain
said.

"I have had drug court participants come before me with their whole
family," he said. "They sit in court with their baby on their knee, and
that's what I want. The family is their support system, which they will
need to combat their addiction."

Drug court participants are placed into an intensive two-year treatment
program, which starts with two hours of treatment five days per week,
George Shirilla, drug court coordinator, said at the luncheon.

The treatment is gradually tapered off until the participant is in
treatment for about one hour per week, Shirilla said. At the same time,
though, the person is increasing his or her participation in support groups
like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, Shirilla said.

The Conasauga Judicial Circuit, composed of Murray and Whitfield counties,
started accepting participants for its drug court program Feb. 12, Partain
said. The program currently has 23 participants, who are in varying stages
of recovery, he said.

Preparations for the drug court here began two years ago, Partain said.

That was when Coy Temples, then the chief judge, suggested Partain attend a
seminar on the idea.

"I thought it was something that would work here," he said.

Other drug courts' success stories are what really convinced Partain, he
said. He hopes to have similar success stories in two years when
participants begin to graduate from this drug court.

"Drug court saves lives," Partain said.

And by preventing participants from committing more crimes, it unites
families, reduces crime and reduces demands on social services, saving
taxpayers money, he said.

The drug court works as a team effort, Partain said. The judge, district
attorney, public defender, probation officers and law enforcement
representatives meet each week to talk about every case, he said.

While each of these people has an adversarial role in traditional court,
they are all working together with the single goal of advancing the
participant's treatment in drug court, Partain said.

In these meetings, it may even be the public defender who proposes jailing
a participant as a sanction for a relapse or the district attorney who
argues for keeping the participant out of jail, he said.

The system works through sanctions for violations of the rules and rewards
for following the rules and working to stay clean and sober, Partain said.

Sanctions can range from a stern lecture to jail time, while rewards can
range from "a pat on the back" to tickets to a ball game, he said.