This summer, Lowndes County will join 39 other counties with drug courts in place. Sixteenth Circuit Court Judge Lee Howard presented plans for the drug court at a Board of Supervisors meeting on Friday.
“A lot of people think that it is a court. It really is not,” explained Howard. “It is a sentencing alternative for judges.”
Through the drug court system, circuit court judges can sentence drug addicts or abusers who plead guilty to a rehabilitation program, rather than jail time. Participants are part of the program for three to five years, during which time they enter a rehab program and receive help entering or re-entering the workforce.
“It is a treatment alternative for those with serious addictions or abusers,” Howard said.
Judges won”t always select the participants in the program. A drug court team of law enforcement agents, counselors, psychologists and others may decide drug court is the best option for a drug offender.
The program is not open to sellers or distributors nor to DUI offenders.
The local drug court coordinator is April Edwards, a nurse working out of Starkville.
“She is dedicated to trying to help these people with their addictions, and is enthusiastic,” Howard said of Edwards.
Edwards declined to comment on the drug court until the 16th Circuit Court gets its state certification. The drug court will be active in all four 16th District counties — Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Noxubee and Clay.
The program is authorized to use drug-seizure vehicles for its purposes and has one in its possession, from south Mississippi.
Howard said the program has about a 40-percent success rate, which includes both those participants who want the help and those forced by a judge to undergo treatment.
Columbus Municipal Court has its own version of drug court, though it is a little different from what will be implemented in the circuit court.
In city court, candidates for drug court are referred to the program by their arresting officers or attorneys, or are selected by drug court officials from cases being processed in the Columbus Municipal Court.
The city”s drug court is operating on state grant money and is stationed in office space donated by the Columbus Police Department.
Howard expects the circuit court”s program to be certified by July or August. The drug court will be self-sustaining, funded by court fines.
Programs usually include intense supervision, drug testing, court appearances and an education component, according to the state of Mississippi”s judiciary website.
The state”s first drug court began in Ridgeland in 1995. The first felony drug court program was started by 14th Circuit Court Judge Keith Starrett, in 1999.
In 2010, 80 percent of all serious crimes were drug-related Howard said, citing the Mississippi Department of Corrections. That statistic includes crimes committed while on drugs, for the purpose of supporting a drug habit and directly related to sale or purchase.
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