Morgan County Drug Court Enhancements

The Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program is designed to assist states, state courts, local courts, units of local government, and Indian tribal governments in developing and establishing drug courts for substance-abusing adult and juvenile offenders. Drug court programs funded by the Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program are required by law to target nonviolent offenders. The program supports the following activities: adult drug court implementation, single jurisdiction drug court enhancement, statewide drug court enhancement, and planning efforts.

The Morgan County Drug Court will use its single jurisdiction enhancement grant to enhance its program's effectiveness by adding one police officer for increased monitoring as well as new treatment options for participants. The court's target population are individuals living in the Morgan County area who are involved in the criminal justice system due to drug and/or alcohol abuse. Other eligibility requirements include a history free of major drug sales or trafficking and violent crimes. In addition, all drug court clients must be atleast 18 years of age. All clients have an alcohol and/or drug addiction and have at least two (2) class A misdemeanor or felony convictions which carry a jail sentence of eleven months and twenty-nine days. The actual charges could range from simple possession of Schedule II or Schedule VI to DUI to theft of property or passing worthless checks. The court will also focus on the increasing number of methamphetamine and opiate users in its area. The Morgan County Drug Court is located in the geographic region where the crimes occur, increasing the court's accountability to process the cases and report to a quarterly advisory board. Funds will compensate one additional police officer to aid in the supervision of program participants and will allow the court to offer more treatment options to current and future participants, which are currently unavailable. By offering a more intensive supervision and rehabilitation program to the non-violent drug related misdemeanor and felony defendants, the Morgan County Drug Court hopes to further reduce the substance abuse and recidivism of its offenders.

CA/NCF