DAUGHTER OF GOV. BUSH IS SENT TO JAIL IN A DRUG CASE

MIAMI, July 17 - Noelle Bush, the 24-year-old daughter of Gov. Jeb. Bush,
was sent to Orange County jail in Orlando this afternoon after failing to
meet conditions of a court-ordered rehabilitation plan stemming from her
drug arrest in January.

Ms. Bush was charged with prescription fraud on Jan. 29 after she tried to
obtain the anti-anxiety drug Xanax from a pharmacy in Tallahassee, the
police said.

Governor Bush disclosed his daughter's rehabilitation lapse in a statement
today, saying, "My family is saddened to share that our daughter Noelle has
not abided by the conditions of her drug court treatment plan."

Judge Reginald Whitehead of Orange County Circuit found Ms. Bush in
contempt of court and sent her to jail for 72 hours after staff members at
her resident drug treatment center in Orlando discovered last week that she
had prescription pills that a nurse said had been stolen from the center's
medicine cabinet.

Ms. Bush said she had found the pills on the center's grounds. Center
administrators said that was false.

In a letter to the judge overseeing Ms. Bush's case, the program director
of the center where she is receiving treatment expressed concerns about her
recovery even though Ms. Bush has passed the required drug tests.

"There is concern about her lack of honesty," the program director wrote to
the judge.

In another incident, Ms. Bush was discovered on June 19 to have been "off
property without permission," said Randy Means, executive director of the
Orange-Osceola state attorney's office, which oversees cases in the region
assigned to Florida drug court. It is unclear how long she was missing or
what she was doing at the time. She was assigned to perform community
service as punishment for the incident.

Ms. Bush avoided trial after her arrest in January by entering a
rehabilitation program.

Peter Antonacci, Ms. Bush's lawyer, did not return calls seeking comment.

Mr. Bush has previously acknowledged that his daughter has a drug problem,
and he has at times become emotional talking about it.

At the opening of an annual statewide drug conference in May, Governor Bush
wept as he thanked audience members for their support while he and his
wife, Columba, dealt with their daughter's recovery.

In his statement today, the governor said: "There are consequences for
every action we take in our lives, and as her parents, Columba and I wish
we could have prevented our daughter from making the wrong choices. We love
Noelle, but she is an adult, and I respect the role of the courts in
carrying out our state's drug treatment policies."

Ms. Bush is in protective custody in a housing unit for women who are
prominent offenders, said Allen Moore, spokesman for the Orange County
Corrections Department.

Capt. Tim Ryan, chief of the Orange County Corrections Department, said a
representative from the governor's office had called to inquire about Ms.
Bush's well-being.

Governor Bush, who was in Orlando this evening for a ceremony honoring
Florida's teacher of the year, visited his daughter in jail after speaking
at the event.

A weekday visit of Ms. Bush would typically not have been permitted.
However, Mr. Moore said, "in this case obviously he's the governor of the
state and he's concerned about his daughter, so we accommodated him."
Before visiting his daughter, Governor Bush told reporters, "The challenge
of this is that I'm a governor, but I'm also a father."

Ms. Bush is scheduled to appear before Judge Whitehead on Friday, when he
will decide whether to return her to treatment or reinstate the fraud
charges stemming from the arrest at the Walgreen's drug store.

Bruce Winick, a drug offense expert and a law professor at the University
of Miami School of Law, said Ms. Bush was likely to be sent back to treatment.