Drug Court. Drug court has been in operation since mid-summer in Boone County and it represents the combined efforts of justice and treatment professionals to actively intervene to break the cycle of substance abuse, addiction and crime.
Boone County Drug Court. Circuit Judge Will Thompson, in a ceremony attended by numerous court officials, including State Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin, advocated the court even before he was appointed to the bench.
“I have been an attorney for many years,” he said. “I’ve represented a lot of people in court on drug charges and I’ve seen a lot more people in court on similar charges, and it always seemed to me like it could have been done better.”
Thompson had heard of similar drug courts across the state and the nation and believed it could be established here.
How Drug Courts Work. The concept, Thompson said, is a simple one.
“A person arrested on drug charges has to admit guilt to be admitted to the program,” he said. “After he does, he enters into a strict program of drug testing, and they are supervised by a member of the court who sees what problems they have and forces them to deal with these.”
The problems might include getting and keeping a job, learning how to be a better parent, or getting their GED or a college degree.
If the person follows all the orders of the court and fulfills their obligations, after a set period, the court will take another look at their case.
“If we can see that a defendant is getting off drugs, has a job, or is getting their act together, eventually we may dismiss their case and they can go on with their lives,” Thompson said.
Judge Thompson emphasized that hardcore offenders need not apply.
“We don’t accept violent offenders, or people who have multiple drug offenses,” Thompson said.
“The people in drug court are mostly men and women who may have made one stupid mistake in their lives, and they got caught doing it. Most of them aren’t bad people; they have just gotten off track. We can usually help these folks.”
Do drug courts work?
After a decade of drug court research, scientists at the Treatment Research Institute at the University of Pennsylvania concluded that, “To put it bluntly, we know that drug courts outperform virtually all other strategies that have been used with drug-involved offenders.”
An extensive review of drug courts by the U.S. Government Accountability Office(GAO) concluded that adult drug court programs substantially reduce crime by lowering re-arrest and conviction rates among drug court graduates well after program completion.
By in large, most of the people who are currently under the supervision of the Boone County drug court are doing fine, and are on track to be released from supervision at some point, according to court officials.
While most of them follow the court’s instructions to the letter, some will slip up.
“I had to send a young lady to jail for a few days because she failed a random drug test this week,” Thompson said. “She’s in college, and was doing ok, but she tested positive for drugs. When I sent her out of here she was crying, but I think she will eventually be okay.”
“When someone messes up, it will be dealt with swiftly and harshly,” he emphasized.
“There will be failures,” he said. “However, our court seems to be succeeding,” he said.
"I hope people don't look at this as being dysfunctional when someone messes up," he said.
“Our community needs this. Kids are stealing from their parents to buy drugs in Boone County. When it gets that bad, then it is time for drastic measures.”
Looking at the crowded courtroom, he bluntly stated, “There’s not a single person in here who can honestly say that someone in their family or someone they know is not using drugs.
“And if you think they’re not, then you don’t know your family very well.”
How Drug Court Will Work in Boone County. Thompson stressed that for the drug court to continue to be successful, it will require the backing of all Boone County residents.
“If you know someone who is getting off drugs, give them some encouragement. Help them any way you can. If we all work together, then we have a good chance of cleaning up a large amount of the illegal drugs in our county.”
“Some of these people have never had encouragement in their lives,” he said.
A potion of the program involves providing rewards to participants for the progress they accomplish.
Thompson encourages area business to cooperate and donate items such as movie passes and gift certificates for dinner to be used as incentives.
While the program is currently only available to non-violent adult participants, Thompson said he has been approached by some community members interested in seeing a drug court for area teens.
“What these people are facing is very difficult. Drug court is very hard. In fact, I had one man tell me that he would rather I sentence him to time in jail than drug court. It’s that hard,” Thompson told the Coal Valley News.
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