SUCCESSFUL DRUG COURT PROGRAM EXPANDING TO CHEROKEE COUNTY

Cherokee County will soon be the home of a new crime-fighting initiative that focuses on the root causes of the problem.

Local criminal justice leaders are implementing a court program for non-violent criminal offenders who commit a crime that is linked to drug abuse.

The new initiative is the expansion of a Spartanburg County collaboration that began in 2001. The program is designed to last a minimum of 14 months, and the curriculum includes weekly court appearances, drug treatment, addiction-related recovery meetings, random drug and alcohol tests, program fees and curfew checks. Participants plead guilty as charged and receive suspended prison sentences. Once they complete program, the charges are satisfied. If they fall behind, the sanctions could include anything from stiffer curfew checks to weekend jail sentences and potentially prison time.

Local organizers hope to have the new program in operation by April 1, 2009. Drug Court meetings will be held in the Cherokee County Courthouse.

Since June of 2001, the Spartanburg-based collaboration admitted 164 people. Of those participants, 85 have either graduated or are still active in the program. Over the past two fiscal years, 96 percent of the drug tests indicated no use of drugs or alcohol by the participants. During that time period, Drug Court collected and paid out more than $24,400 in restitution to crime victims. Program participants also paid more than $77,000 in program fees.

The annual treatment cost of for one client is about $4,500 compared to more than $16,400 to house someone in the Spartanburg County jail for the same time period, according to a program study.

“Drug Court is a win/win proposition for the community,” Solicitor Trey Gowdy said. “The cost of treatment pales in comparison to the expense of incarceration. The offender also receives the help they need to avoid becoming a recidivist.”

The innovative Spartanburg court is a partnership between the Solicitor’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office, the Spartanburg Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission, the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office, Cherokee County Probate Judge Josh Queen and retired Spartanburg County Probate Judge Ray Eubanks. The Cherokee County effort will include several of the key participants from the Spartanburg program with the local sheriff’s office and the Cherokee County Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse.

“I really enjoy my work with this program,” Judge Queen said. “It is not a traditional courtroom environment with the prosecution verse the defense. We all want the same thing. We want to see the client get cleaned up.

“If we can get people to the point where they can manage their addiction, I think we will have done our job,” Queen added.

The new Cherokee County program is being funded through a $150,000 grant from the US Department of Justice. Local organizers will be required to raise an additional $50,000 to completely fund the program.