Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Politics

County to create overdue drug court

A judgeship has been issued to the county beginning in 2007 to keep drug offenders out of jail and to get them off their addictions.

By JAMAL THALJI
Published September 18, 2006

Pasco is the largest county in Florida without a drug court, an intervention and treatment program that since its inception 17 years ago has spread to courthouses across the nation.

That distinction ends in January.

"Hallelujah," said Circuit Judge Lynn Tepper.

A new Pasco-Pinellas circuit judge position will be assigned to the county at the start of 2007 to preside over drug courts in east and west Pasco funded by county and state dollars.

"It takes people who have drug dependency problems out of the criminal system," said Pasco's chief jurist, Circuit Judge W. Lowell Bray Jr. "It gives them an opportunity to get their lives straightened out, as opposed to just putting them in jail."

It does that by offering drug offenders a deal: Successfully confront the addictions, and the criminal charges will be dropped.

Prosecutors decide who gets into drug court, and those who do are closely watched by the judge and case managers, who monitor their treatment, counseling and drug screenings.

Bad behavior will be sanctioned and good behavior rewarded during their frequent court appearances. Failing a drug test could mean a few days in jail, for example, while regularly attending treatment could mean fewer drug tests.

The goal is to get these offenders out of the system and off drugs.

"Hopefully you give somebody the opportunity to turn their life around, and then you don't have to deal with them anymore," said Pasco-Pinellas State Attorney Bernie McCabe. "It's a win-win for the system and for the defendant."

It's also a long-overdue innovation for Pasco's courthouses, officials said. The first drug court was called to order in 1989 in Miami by Judge Herbert Klein. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, there are now 1,557 drug courts across the country, in U.S. territories and American Indian tribal courts.

Pasco is the only county in the Tampa Bay area without one.

"We've seen a demand for a drug court for sometime," said circuit spokesman Ron Stuart. "But there wasn't a way to staff it until we got this new position. Judge Bray made a very passionate appeal to get this."

This year, the Florida Legislature awarded the Pasco-Pinellas Circuit a new $145,080-a-year judgeship, which Circuit Chief Judge David Demers assigned to Pasco for the program. The County Commission still has to approve the $293,727 set aside in next year's budget for drug court, while the state will fund one of two case managers.

Bray's plan - which the circuit's chief judge still has to approve - is for the new judge to be in Dade City but split the drug court dockets in east and west Pasco. That judge won't be named until after the November elections.

Proponents of drug court cite two main benefits: Taxpayers are more likely to save money, and defendants are less likely to reoffend.

Here are some key 2005 figures from Pinellas' drug court: $7-million was saved by keeping offenders out of jail, and 23 percent of the participants were rearrested on felony charges during a 24-month period. That's slightly more than the program's recidivism goal of 20 percent.

Society benefits, too. Last year, 12 drug-free babies were born to mothers in Pinellas' program.

The closest thing Pasco had to a drug court was in Tepper's courtroom from 2004-05, when she handled the criminal docket in Dade City. Those on drug offender probation were required to show up after hours to her unofficial drug court so she could monitor their cases.

"It's typical in drug court for everyone to applaud when someone does well," Tepper said. "It is very personal, and I still get contact from people that were in drug court. They e-mail me or come by and see me.

"They think it's the best thing that ever happened to them."

[Last modified September 17, 2006, 22:56:58]