| |
Drug courts are specialized court process for handling
drug-related offenses. Bannock County currently has a Drug Court for felony,
misdemeanor and juvenile offenses.
The first drug court was established in Dade County, Florida, in
1989. A group of concerned Miami leaders noticed the criminal justice system was
unable to adequately address drug addiction or combat the crime that this
problem causes. Based on their successful efforts, Drug Court systems are being
set up all across the nation. The success of such programs compares to that of
the pilot program in Florida.
A drug court emphasizes intensive monitoring of the participant
and frequent court appearances for the purposes of providing constant and
immediate accountability for the participant. The court process differs
significantly from the traditional court process. In the traditional court
process a defendant would be sentenced and given a list of probation conditions
and guidelines, a probation officer would monitor compliance with these items,
and the probationer would only be before the sentencing court if they violated
the conditions sufficiently for the probation officer to believe some sanction
needed to be imposed by the court. Frequently, the response to a probation
violation in the traditional court setting could take several weeks to several
months after the violation occurred. By way of contract, a Drug Court
participant is constantly before the court during the term of their probation
for status checks. Furthermore, before each court session, the case is reviewed
by the Drug Court team. This team consists of the presiding judge, the probation
officer, the treatment provider or providers (substance abuse treatment provider
and/or mental health treatment provider), the prosecutor, the defense attorney,
and any other people that are tied to the defendant's treatment program. The
treatment team discusses the progress of the participant and determines if
rewards or sanctions should be imposed. They then attempts to reach a consensus
on what approach the judge should take with the participant, including a
consensus on any rewards or sanctions which should be imposed. The court
appearance of the participant is held in open court with the other participants
in the Drug Court present.
|
