Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
Oahu's pioneer Drug Court gives drug offenders a chance
to clean up instead of being thrown in jail. Judge Frances
Wong, right, participates in the program, which a study
says saves taxpayers almost $1 million yearly.

Oahu's Drug Court program
expands to Maui

---

By Gary Kubota
Maui correspondent

WAILUKU -- A state court program that aims to rehabilitate criminals who are drug users is poised to expand from Oahu to the neighbor islands.

Oahu's Drug Court started in January 1996 in the Oahu Circuit Court system. A similar program will be instituted in Maui Circuit Court on Aug. 24 and could eventually be established on Kauai and the Big Island.

The idea is to help drug users kick their habit and therefore make them less likely to be repeat criminal offenders.

Under the traditional court system, "you get people taking up space and not getting treatment, or the treatment they get is very limited," said Susan Arnett, the Maui supervisor of the Public Defender's office.

By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Heroin is wrapped in foil and covered with a balloon,
so it can be ingested for smuggling.

Arnett said the Drug Court program is a different and "really valuable" concept for criminal justice. "We've had success on Oahu and in other parts of the country ... We know business as usual doesn't have the success that Drug Courts have and that's the reason to try this."

Legal observers said that besides redirecting people toward healthy and productive lives, the program can save tax dollars and reduce the number of prisoners in an overcrowded system.

"We're pleased that the individuals who have finished the program have really changed their lives," said Ronald Hajime of Oahu's Drug Court.

According to a study conducted two years ago, the Drug Court program on Oahu is saving taxpayers from $677,000 to $854,000 a year.

Observers say many convicted felons commit crimes influenced by drug addiction and the problem is growing.

Of the 850 felony indictments a year in Maui Circuit Court, an estimated 90 percent of them are drug-related, according to court officials on Maui. And Maui Community Correctional Center, designed for 260 inmates, has accommodated as many as 450 inmates, officials note.

Maui Circuit Judge Shackley Raffetto, who will be serving as the Drug Court judge, said the objective of the program is to "save lives."

"It also should save us some money," Raffetto said.

State court officials noted that nationally, 12 to 65 percent of felons have been rearrested once released from prison or placed on probation.

In the Drug Court on Oahu, where the program has diverted more than 362 pre-trial felons and probation violators, the rate is 16 percent. The result is fewer criminals in prison and less taxpayer money spent to incarcerate prisoners.

The Drug Court program will cost about $215,000 annually to serve 60 people on Maui.

State officials estimated imprisoning a person for a day at Maui Community Correctional Center costs $91.

That would translate to $1.9 million to keep 60 people there for a year.

Money for the program on Maui is being provided through state and federal grants.

In addition, $15,000 in donations is coming from the Maui community and another $15,000 will come through a state quarantine fund.

The program seeks to rehabilitate non-violent offenders addicted to drugs, such as those charged with theft, fraud and drug sales. Those who commit assaults, robberies and murders are not eligible to participate.

The prosecutor evaluates defendants and agrees to allow them into the Drug Court program. A defendant essentially agrees to plead guilty to the charges brought by the prosecutor. If he or she successfully completes the program, charges will be dismissed.

If the defendant fails to complete the program, he or she goes before a judge without a jury for a trial on facts already stipulated and is sentenced.

Prosecutor Richard Bissen said he supports the Drug Court program because of its success in turning some felons with drug problems away from a life of crime.

"If the source of the crime is drugs, then it seems that's the way we need to attack it," Bissen said.

Defendants take an average of 18 months to complete the Drug Court program.

Drug Court coordinator Lillian Koller Schmidt said defendants are given a series of tests and evaluated by certified intake workers who help to develop a program that involves teaching offenders how to modify their thinking and behavior.

She said during the initial stages, defendants are drug tested randomly at least four times a week and meet every week with the Drug Court judge for evaluation.

Schmidt said to complete the program, defendants must achieve no positive urine test results or unexcused absences from drug testing for 90 days, and must be enrolled in an educational program or have a job.

Schmidt said some defendants will be participating in a job training program provided by Maui Economic Opportunity, Inc., that includes a wage subsidy to employers for up to six months.

Schmidt said the prosecutor's office reviewed six weeks of criminal cases and found 24 defendants who could potentially qualify for the Drug Court program.

"We know the need is great," Schmidt said.

The Maui program will be accepting five to 10 defendants starting Aug. 24, and five to 10 every third Thursday of the month until it hits its quota of 60 people.

Maui Police Chief Thomas Phillips said the establishment of a Drug Court on Maui comes at a time when the availability of illegal drugs is growing on the Valley Isle and causing "more trouble than we've had before."

Phillips said in the last couple of years, Maui has witnessed an increase in the use of crystal methamphetamine and heroin, and quite often convicted felons "simply go to jail and learn how to be a better criminal."

"That's why the drug court is interesting to all of us," he said. "Drug Court has had a higher success rate than most other programs."