FOUR COUNTIES PLAN TO SET UP DRUG COURT

WILBER, Neb. -- Four counties in southeastern Nebraska plan to form a
cooperative drug court whose goal will be to rehabilitate drug users
facing felony charges.

The drug court for Saline, Gage, Jefferson and Fillmore counties is
scheduled to begin sometime this summer and would be similar to those
in Lancaster, Douglas and other Nebraska counties, Saline County
District Judge Vicky Johnson said.

The 18-month program would mix drug testing with counseling,
outpatient drug treatment, rewards for good behavior and punishments
for bad behavior. At the end, participants would be expected to have
jobs or be taking classes and, most important, be sober.

Johnson said if offenders meet conditions, the felony charges that
landed them in drug court would be dropped.

The Gage County attorney's office would handle the prosecution,
Johnson said. County attorneys from the other three counties would
decide who was eligible for the program.

The court was set into motion about a year ago after the Saline
County Board of Commissioners saw a presentation about the Lancaster
County Drug Court, Johnson said.

Johnson said authorities in nearby counties expressed interest in
combining their efforts to establish a multi-county drug court.

Gage County Attorney Randall Ritnour said the methamphetamine problem
in southeast Nebraska necessitates a drug court in the area. Gage
County saw 13 felony drug cases last year and already has matched
that total the first three months of 2007.

"You look at violence, you look at burglaries, you look at thefts,
and drugs fuel a lot of that," Ritnour said.

Probation officer Christina Lyons, who is helping set up the drug
court, applied for a $215,000 federal grant that would be used to
fund the first two years of the program. T0he money would be used to
hire a coordinator and possibly one other employee, among other things.

She said the four counties would absorb the cost of the drug court
after the first two years, if it's effective.