JUDGE SANDERS TALKS ABOUT DRUG COURT

Substance abusers in Leflore County whose addictions trap them in a cycle
of criminal activity now have a way out with a new drug court.

The drug court, one of three such programs in Mississippi, provides
"treatment and rehabilitation coupled with the power of the court to make a
difference," Circuit Judge Betty Sanders told the Greenwood Voters League
Wednesday night.

Sanders, along with the district attorney's office, helped initiate the
18-month program, which covers Leflore, Sunflower and Washington counties.
Currently, a team of 10 judges, counselors and law enforcement officers
work in drug court.

Anyone convicted of a drug-related crime is eligible, except for violent
offenders, drug dealers and those with severe mental illness. The most
important criteria, Sanders explained, is that "they must be addicted to
drugs or hooked on alcohol."

The program, if completed, wipes the offense off the person's record.

After being charged, the offender must get a recommendation from the
arresting agency and district attorney to go to drug court. Instead of
serving a sentence, those admitted to the program are placed in Denton
House, a Life Help residential treatment program, where they live for at
least six months.

Upon release from Denton House, the drug court team works to usher
participants back into society, placing them in a strict regimen away from
the temptations of their former lives. The participants must check in with
the court every week and submit to random drug tests. The drug court team
also helps them find housing and employment.

During treatment, the participants still have their suspended sentence
hanging over their heads in case they break the rules. If they skip an
after-care session, miss a job interview or violate other drug court rules,
their continuing in the program depends on the individual violation. Those
who test positive for drug use and lie that they have not been using are
automatically kicked out.

However, "if they admit that they slipped up, depending on the
circumstances - each person is treated as an individual - they may remain
in the program," Sanders said.

Sanders calls the system "a wholistic approach."

"We try to return these people to their families as a father, a mother, a
brother because they have not been functioning in those roles," she said.

Sanders said that while attending intensive training sessions in Florida
and California to start the program, she learned the real power of cocaine
and crack cocaine. "If you try it, you're hooked on it. You don't care
about your family. You don't care about your job. You don't care about
yourself. You don't care about anything."

The current idea of rehabilitation in prison is not always working, she
said. Some addicts are incarcerated in local jails and prisons, where drugs
can still circulate. Drug activity behind bars feeds inmate dependency and
later perpetuates a vicious cycle of crime to get drugs, she said. "They
used drugs in prison, and when they get out, they commit a crime to buy
drugs and end right back up in prison."

Many felony offenders end up dodging prison and falling right back out into
the streets with a suspended sentence, supervised probation or house
arrest, Sanders said.

The drug court program aims to return former criminals to the community
without the threat of repeat offenses, said Sgt. Demetrice Bedell, a
narcotics agent for the Greenwood Police Department who is on the drug
court team. "We are putting out a wholesome citizen," he said. "We return
them to you so that you don't have to worry about anybody breaking into
your house and stealing from you while you're at work."

Right now, like those on probation, the offenders that drug court serves
would return to the street for a while, at least until a spot at Denton
House opens up. The residential treatment program currently has a waiting list.

Sanders said the district attorney's office is working with the state
Department of Mental Health to reserve beds. Programs in Nashville and
Louisiana have their own treatment facilities, she said. "We would like to
come up with a way to catapult over the waiting lists."

So far, drug court has put one person in Denton House, with another waiting
to get into treatment. "We have slots available in Leflore County," Sanders
said.

Drug court is funded by a $50,000 grant from the state attorney general's
office and contributions of $13,000 from Leflore and Sunflower counties and
$20,000 from Washington County.