FOUR COUNTIES POOLING RESOURCES TO FORM DRUG COURT

WILBER -- In her time as a district judge, Vicky Johnson has realized
there are two types of drug users.

There are the kind who have extensive criminal histories, who sell
drugs, who are violent, who have problems that extend far beyond drug use.

Then there are those who have perhaps lost their jobs as a result of
their drug use, who have stolen and lied to feed their addictions,
but who are, above all, addicts. Johnson sends the first kind of drug
users to prison.

She's been less certain of what do with the second kind. For a first
offense, she often puts them on probation. But probation for addicts
often doesn't do much in the way of rehabilitation.

After a warning or two, she sentences them to prison, too.

Come summer, Johnson likely will have another option.

Four Southeast Nebraska counties -- Saline, Gage, Jefferson and
Fillmore -- are working to form a cooperative drug court.

Modeled after similar courts for drug users in Lancaster, Douglas and
other Nebraska counties, the court would aim to rehabilitate drug
users facing felony charges, Johnson said.

The 18-month program would combine frequent drug testing -- up to
four times a week -- with counseling, outpatient drug treatment,
rewards for good behavior and punishments for bad behavior.

After 18 months, participants would be expected to have jobs or be
taking classes, she said. They'd be expected to pay their court fees
on time, show up for meetings and court appearances and, ultimately,
to be sober.

If they could do all that, Johnson said, the felony charges that
landed them in drug court in the first place would be dropped.

Johnson and fellow 1st District Judge Paul Korlslund, who's based in
Beatrice, would take turns presiding over the court, which would
convene once a week. The Gage County attorney's office, which has
three full-time attorneys, would handle the prosecution, Johnson
said. County attorneys from the other three counties would decide who
was eligible for the program.

"It's designed for people we're mad at, not afraid of," Johnson said.

The idea for the program was planted perhaps a year ago, Johnson
said, after the Saline County Board of Commissioners saw a
presentation about the Lancaster County Drug Court.

They approached Johnson about starting something similar in Saline
County, and she looked around to see if anyone else was interested.

They were.

"There's a significant methamphetamine problem in all of Southeast
Nebraska," said Gage County Attorney Randall Ritnour.

In 2006, he said, Gage County saw 13 felony drug cases. Less than
three months into 2007, there have been another 13 felony cases, he said.

And Ritnour sees drugs at work in other types of crime, too.

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

Ritnour, who served as the Johnson County attorney before being
elected to the Gage County post in November, said he's seen the same
people wind up in court on drug charges time after time.

Christina Lyons, a probation officer, had noticed that, too.

"We were seeing the same people over and over and over again, and we
wanted to break that chain."

Lyons, who also has helped to form the drug court, applied for a
federal grant for $215,000, which would be used to fund the first two
years of the program. Among other things, the money would be used to
hire a coordinator and possibly one other employee.

After those initial two years, Lyons said, the four counties would
absorb the cost of the drug court, providing it's effective.

She's hopeful it will be.

Unlike some rural counties, Saline, Gage, Jefferson and Fillmore
counties all offer mental health services and drug and alcohol
treatment. The services are available through Blue Valley Mental
Health, which provides mental health care in 15 Southeast Nebraska counties.

Blue Valley Executive Director Jon Day said treatment could include
intensive outpatient therapy -- 10 hours a week of addiction
counseling and small group meetings -- as well as anger management
training, marriage counseling and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

One of the main components of successful treatment, he said, would be
making services available in the communities where they're needed.

He hopes drug court does that.

"This is the last stop," he said. "It's an alternative to incarceration."

By the numbers:

Numbers Of Felony Drug Cases By County In 06

Saline: 22

Gage: 13

Jefferson: 6

Fillmore: 3

Estimated cost of first two years of drug court program: $215,000

Sources: Gage County Attorney's Office; Christina Lyons