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January 31, 2007
ID: Idaho's drug courts seek 50 percent more money
Idaho Statesman
Jan 29, 2007
Idaho's drug courts seek 50 percent more money
POCATELLO, Idaho (AP) -- Administrators of Idaho's drug and mental health court are seeking an additional $4 million to increase the number of people who can participate.
In a six-page report to Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter and the Legislature, court administrators said 888 people were supervised by the court during any given month in 2006.
Boosting spending on the program by 50 percent would allow 506 additional people throughout the state to participate, 6th District Judge N. Randy Smith said.
Idaho ranks second in the nation in drug court availability based on the number of courts per capita. The first two drug courts opened in 1998, and the state had 40 drug courts as of Dec. 4, meaning there was one court for every 36,000 Idahoans, according to the report.
Otter spokesman Jon Hanian said Monday that the governor's office did not immediately have a comment to the request.
Smith oversees Bannock County's drug court, which opened its doors in 2002.
A defendant can go to drug court before or after sentencing. In both cases the defendant is likely facing prison time, but Smith said he believes choosing the drug court, rather than being sentenced to the program, empowers a defendant to start being accountable.
The recidivism rate, the percentage of people who are re-arrested, for Bannock County drug court graduates is just 4 percent. That compares to 19 percent for Ada County drug court graduates and 20 percent for Kootenai County graduates.
Recidivism rate for drug offenders throughout the state who have not gone through drug court is well over 50 percent.
Charles Snowden, a Bannock County drug court participant, knows he would be in prison if not for drug court. Snowden said rock bottom came for him last year when his youngest child was born while he sat in Bannock County Jail facing prison time.
"I didn't even get to see him be born," Snowden told the Idaho State Journal for a story Sunday. "It made me think of my kids and I felt ashamed."
Snowden, a father of four, was arrested last year for possession of methamphetamine. Today, he has been drug-free for seven months and credits Bannock County's drug court and Smith with saving his life.
The report, which was submitted to the governor's office and lawmakers last week, also noted that drug court programs cost the state less than other penalties. Per participant, the drug court costs $6,500, compared with $20,000 for each prison inmate and $10,600 for each inmate in a work release center.
---http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/ID_DRUG_COURT_IDOL-?SITE=IDBOI&SECTIO
N=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-01-29-17-15-57
Information from: Idaho State Journal, http://www.journalnet.com
Posted by lois at January 31, 2007 05:02 PM