MUHLENBERG GOING EXTRA MILE TO FIGHT DRUGS

The expectations of the judicial system are pretty simple when it
comes to dealing with those who break the law -- law enforcement are
expected to arrest criminals, the commonwealth's attorney prosecutes
them and a judge hands down a sentence if needed.

If all each party did were meet these expectations, there would be
little to complain about. But it's when officials go above and beyond
the call of duty that communities flourish and quality of life is
positively impacted.

Such is the case in Muhlenberg County where a group of individuals,
led by Circuit Judge David Jernigan, have taken the initiative to
attack the county's drug problem through means other than solely
punishment. The county's new drug court was opened Friday to five
individuals with the goal that rehabilitation will reduce the number
of repeat offenders.

Joining Jernigan on the Drug Court team are Sheriff Jerry Mayhugh,
Commonwealth's Attorney Ralph Vick, probation/parole officer Tommy
Fauntleroy, public defender Paul Allen and Bruce Penrod, who is
employed by the Pennyrile Mental Health Center in Greenville. Marianne
Darity is the court's volunteer coordinator.

The team will give their time to meeting with the Drug Court
participants every Friday to review their cases and see that they are
attending all appointments and counseling sessions.

These people deserve praise, not only for their dedication, but also
for their understanding that the area drug problem -- driven by
methamphetamine -- is entrenched, and it's not going to disappear
without extraordinary effort.

Consider that in 1999 and 2000, of the 431 indictments returned in
Muhlenberg County, 312 -- 72 percent -- included at least one drug
charge. And that number doesn't even factor in the various crimes,
such as burglaries, thefts and assaults that law enforcement say are
more often than not driven by drug or alcohol use.

For many, crime is the result of addiction, and these are the people
drug court seeks to help. It's only open to those who have no history
of violence or sex offenses and no drug-trafficking convictions. The
recidivism rate for drug offenders is more than 30 percent, but
national studies show that the rate for drug court graduates is
between 2 and 20 percent.

The court also saves money. Daviess County estimates the cost of
treating a person in drug court at $2,500 a year, compared to about
$16,000 to house an inmate in prison. Factoring in broader costs, some
estimates say that for every $1 spent on drug court, $10 is saved in
other areas.

What Muhlenberg County and others who've started drug courts are
trying to do is impact lives. The theory is that people can change the
environment that led to their addiction without having to be taken out
of society.

Jernigan will require participants to find a job, enroll in GED
classes if they don't have a high-school diploma, write and talk about
their addictions and attend Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous meetings.

What Muhlenberg County is doing isn't new -- there are more than 700
drug courts nationwide producing about 73,000 adult graduates -- but
it's still a bold step. It's a message that, by whatever extra efforts
necessary, the county is prepared to tackle a drug problem that has
battered this region.