State Drug Court Coordinator Sees Program's Success
January 21, 2007
The Meridian Star
As he sat in the court room of the Leake County Court House Tuesday, Joey Craft applauded each of the six men and women who accepted a certificate for reaching their goals so far.
In a way, it was a confirmation the State Drug Court Coordinator wanted to see for himself that Mississippi was indeed on the right track in terms of turning non-violent drug offenders into respected and proud citizens of their communities. But there were other reasons for his sharing in this moment.
“For each person who completes this program, that is thousands of dollars the state is saving in incarcerating an individual,” said Craft, who noted there are currently a little more than 1,000 first time offenders in the program. “As you can see, this program really works and we are working hard to bring it to every circuit court district in the state. “
According to Craft, it costs $18,000 a year to incarcerate an individual in a state prison facility. But to enroll and lead a person through the Drug Court Program, the cost is only $1,500 a year. So the savings to a state can easily approach millions of dollars over the course of a 12-month period.
Two-thirds of the circuit court districts in Mississippi currently run a drug court program. Craft said they are hoping to get the entire state covered in the next couple of years.
The Mississippi State Legislature in 2003 approved the program after State Auditor Phil Bryant produced a study showing the millions of dollars that could be saved. For the year 2006, the Mississippi Department of Corrections said they expect approximately 22,000 inmates to be housed in prisons across the state.
The other huge advantage seen by proponents of the program is the success rate of those participants that are able to stay clean of illegal drugs, hold down a job and to follow the rules of the court.
“Our success rates hover anywhere from 85 to 90 percent,” said Craft. “You can’t anywhere near that with people who are imprisoned.”
There are 14 adult drug court programs and four juvenile programs operating in Mississippi.
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