$40,000 APPROVED TO HELP RUN DRUG COURT

Money used in a new program to combat addiction and drug crimes will
save taxpayers in the long run, according to a participant in the
program who appeared before the Vanderburgh County Council on
Wednesday. "Jane" - not her real name - told the council that the new
Drug Court/Day Reporting program has put her back on the road to a
productive life.

All seven members of the council voted to approve a $40,000 request
by Superior Court Judge Wayne Trockman, who will use the money to pay
the salary and benefits for one employee of the new program the judge
heads. "I think we are doing some very interesting and worthwhile
work," Trockman told the council about the Drug Court/Day Reporting
program, which started in April.

Currently there are about 23 participants in the program. Those
selected for the program are substance abusers who have had no
violent crimes in their backgrounds.

Trockman said there have been as many as 33 people in the program at
one time, but some of the participants have been kicked out because,
after several chances, they continued not to follow the rules of the
program.

Those who are dismissed go back to court to be tried for their
original felony charges. However, those who complete the 18-month
program successfully are eligible to have their charges dismissed.

Trockman said several of the participants had relapsed back into
their addictions, but none of those, to date, has gone on to commit
other crimes.

Trockman currently is running the program on about $170,000 annually
with mainly grants from the Indiana Department of Correction and with
money contributed by the Vanderburgh County Sheriff, the Vanderburgh
County Prosecutor and the Evansville Police Department.

Trockman told the council of one Drug Court participant who had a
$100 to $200 a day cocaine habit.

The woman had not held a job for eight years and was shoplifting so
she could pay for drugs. Now she is drug-free and is employed.

"The jail is not the answer. We should give treatment to the people
(addicts who break the law) we are mad at and put the people we are
scared of in jail," Trockman said.

"This disease will take you to death as well as the jail," Jane told
the council. "This disease is not going away, it's spreading," she
added.

County Councilman Phil Hoy said he had sat in on a session of Drug
Court, which meets every Tuesday. Participants report daily,
including weekends and holidays, in the early part of their programs.

Hoy said Trockman was using the "perfect balance of compassion and
tough love" in dealing with the participants.

Jane told the council that when she reads stories in the newspaper of
domestic abuse and other violent crimes, "I know this disease has a
part in it."