Superior Court of California County of Sonoma DUI Court Expansion Project

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 Sonoma County Superior Court of California will use the drug court enhancement grant to enhance its current DUI Court operations by expanding the scope of its target population. The court will create a new DUI Court program that specifically addresses court compliance among offenders. The program will provide a structured system of assessment and accountability that will help offenders fulfill both their judicial sentences and treatment as prescribed by the court and its case managers. The program will become mandatory by placing all misdemeanor DUI offenders with one or more priors into the program, excluding felony offenders, and those that are ineligible. The DUI Court will allow for an increased capacity from 100 offenders under the current voluntary system, to an expected 750-800 offenders under the mandatory system. This program will significantly impact Sonoma County DUI policy by bringing all multiple offenders under one judicial officer, which will allow the court greater accountability over offenders.

CA/NCF