DRUG COURT SCALES BACK OPERATIONS

Concerns about money have locked the doors of Glynn County Drug Court to
new offenders.

Glynn County Superior Court Judge Amanda Williams has stopped accepting new
candidates into the program until she finds funding to support it next
fiscal year.

"We had to stop accepting people because we can't put them in something
that we don't know will exist in the fall," Ms. Williams said. "That
doesn't make any sense. We've had to put people on waiting lists. They're
in limbo just like we are."

In February, Ms. Williams asked for extra funding commitments from the
Brunswick City Commission and Glynn and Camden county commissions after
learning that money might not be in the state's fiscal year 2003 budget,
which begins in July.

The federal government has provided decreasing amounts of drug court
funding for the past four years, but that source dries up June 30. The
state has been incrementally making up for the lost federal funding over
the past few years.

If that state money does not come through, then Ms. Williams needs the
local funding to keep the 4-year-old drug court alive. If she does get
state funds, she told all three local bodies the extra funding will be
returned.

The Glynn County Commission immediately agreed to increase its annual
contribution to $100,000 from $50,000 to maintain the drug court, but the
city commission and Camden County never voted on the issue.

Ms. Williams said she had to know by the end of February. When no answers
came, she stopped accepting new drug offenders from both Glynn and Camden
counties.

The city commission told Ms. Williams it will contribute the $25,000 in
funding that it gave last year, but could not promise the extra $50,000
until examining the city's budget.

"This extra funding would be in next year's budget and we've just started
putting the money together for that," said Roosevelt Harris, city manager.
"We always try to get our budget completed by July 1. In the next few weeks
we'll get together and start working on it."

In Camden County, drug court funding came solely from the sheriff's office.
It has promised that money for the coming year, but Ms. Williams is asking
the Camden County Commission to promise an additional $63,000. Steve Berry,
chair of the Camden County Commission his group also must examine its
budget before making a financial commitment.

"We're just now starting our budget process and won't know anything for 30,
45 or 60 days," he said. "We've got $2 million in seized drug funding that
I think we should use before we start using taxpayer dollars. We think the
drug offenders ought to pay for drug court, not the taxpayers.

Drug court is an intensive outpatient drug treatment program that primarily
serves non-violent, first-time drug offenders. Participants are closely
supervised and, among other requirements, must secure jobs and demonstrate
one year of complete sobriety before they can graduate from the program.

Glynn County Drug Court currently has 225 participants, making it the
largest in the state. The program is a two-year commitment, making it the
most intensive in the country.

Ms. Williams said she will continue to seek funds to keep drug court as a
viable alternative to probation and jail time.

"It provides a huge benefit to this community," she said. "This is not just
a funding issue, it's a people issue.

"These people are capable of becoming taxpayers, not just tax users."