ST. GEORGE — They are the most addicted. They are the ones who may not be high 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but they wish they were. They are the men and women sent to drug court in Utah.
Washington County is preparing to open its first drug court Dec. 13. The idea behind a drug court is to not merely penalize a person but to rehabilitate him.
Those who agree to drug court enter a guilty plea. That conviction is later set aside and the case dismissed if the suspect successfully completes the program.
If he doesn't, he is sentenced on his original conviction.
A drug court program takes 18 months to complete.
Judge James Shumate, 5th District Court, said when the court opens in Washington County it will have 10 people. The court will continue adding 10 people a month until it reaches 40 people.
"We're going to fill up real quick," Shumate said.
Shumate said federal money wasn't available for the drug court to accommodate more people.
"We figure that we have a need to serve a population of 100 to 125 people that are seriously addicted," he said. "Al-
most all are meth users; that's the big problem in the area. Seventy to 80 percent of my cases are drug-driven, and meth is the drug."
For a person to be accepted to drug court, he or she must be nonviolent and drug-dependent.
The people in drug court are tested three or four times a week to make sure violators are "caught and immediately dealt with," Shumate said.
That drug user is required to see the judge on a regular basis in addition to receiving treatment.
"They come back to court every week," Shumate said. "We expect their ability to stay clean and sober will be a rocky road."
But the rough ride may be well worth it.
Salt Lake City's drug court was started in June 1996. Of the 220 people who have completed the program, only 15 have been rearrested on felony drug charges, said Brent Kelsey of the Salt Lake drug court.
In a traditional justice system, 45-70 percent of convicted drug users are back in jail within three years.
"We feel good about that," Kelsey said.
Another advantage of drug court is cost. Kelsey said putting someone through drug court costs one-tenth of the expense of incarcerating him.
Salt Lake's drug court currently has 270 active clients. Kelsey said 70 percent of those people will successfully complete the program.
The key, he said, is being motivated to seek help.
"If you're not motivated to do treatment, it's not going to work," he said.
Like Washington County, Salt Lake has a problem with funding its drug court. Kelsey said the drug court in Salt Lake could fill up with 900 people, but it can't afford that.
Washington County said it will be ready to open its drug court as soon as $40,000 worth of drug-testing machines are shipped and employees finish training. The machines are able to test for every drug on the street, Shumate said.
Even if the people in drug court stay clean for just six months, it will be the first time many of them have been drug-free for that long since they were children, Shumate said.
Even those who complete only a portion of the year-and-a-half-long program pick up skills that could keep them out of trouble in the future, Kelsey said.
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com