DRUG COURT PROGRAM FOR YOUTHS OKD

SPRINGFIELD -- Gov. George Ryan on Monday approved legislation allowing
circuit courts to establish juvenile drug court programs, which let young
offenders undergo treatment instead of being incarcerated.

The new law allows the chief judge in each judicial circuit to create a
drug court program for juveniles, a plan that would mirror the statewide
program for adults that Ryan signed last year.

The law will allow some non-violent juveniles, with the consent of the
prosecutor and a judge, to opt into a drug court program instead of going
to a detention facility. The program requires the successful completion of
a strict regimen of counseling and drug testing, among other requirements.

Marcy O'Boyle, a spokeswoman for Cook County State's Atty. Richard Devine,
said Cook County has operated a highly successful adult drug court program
for years. She could not say late Monday whether Devine would endorse a
similar program for juveniles.

However, O'Boyle said thousands have avoided jail time, and several
criminal courtrooms have been shut down as a result of the county's drug
court program for adults.