County injects $2,500 into drug court to sustain program

Plymouth County's drug court is receiving a $2,500 boost from the county coffers.

On Tuesday, the Plymouth County Board of Supervisors approved giving that sum of money to the program to keep it going through June 2010.

Drug Court, which brings adults and juveniles facing drug-related charges in front of a panel of their peers for goal-setting, encouragement and enforcement, is low on money.

"In these times of budget issues, our department in the state has come upon that as well," said Jean Severson, supervisor of juvenile court services for the Third Judicial District. "We are running out of funds."

The $2,500 from Plymouth County will help cover costs from January to June 2010, she said.

Part of the need for money, Severson said, is that the number of volunteer panels went from two to three. The panel members aren't paid, but they are trained, receive a meal at each meeting, and are coordinated by a paid administrator.

Since the program started in late 2007, drug court has served 60 adults and 20 juveniles in Plymouth County.

About 20 adults and three juveniles have graduated.

"Of the three (juveniles) we had graduate, none have received criminal charges as an adult, let alone drug charges," added Jennica Jackes, adult probation officer.

"It costs some money but I think in the long run it saves a lot of money because these people aren't somewhere else," said Supervisor Chairman Jim Henrich.

Mary Buhman, drug court coordinator, agreed.

"There's a lot of cost savings," she said. "If we are having people that would have been in jail, I think it's $1,400 for a two week stay. Whereas here we don't have them in jail. They're out in the community. They're required to have a job...They're paying taxes."

County Auditor Stacey Feldman said juvenile probation costs have dropped from $82,000 in 2006-07 to about $50,000 in 2009-10.

"We saw that trend during our budget and you said you think a lot of that has been contributed from drug court," Feldman told the board.

In 2007, when the Plymouth County Drug Court kicked off, the county supervisors gave the program $10,000 from Local Option Sales Tax revenue as a jump start.

Supervisor Craig Anderson said he was concerned that the Plymouth County Drug Court might become dependent on the county.

"Originally there was not supposed to be any county expense," he said. "When we came up with the $10,000, I understood that was a one-time allocation to the drug court."

Severson confirmed that Tuesday's request was a reflection on the state economy.

Anderson asked whether the program would continue to lean on the county in the future.

"We have been and will continue to look at other options that may be available, but in this interim we are coming to you so we can continue the program," Severson said. "We're going to look at some of the service organizations in the county. We're going to look at some grants, but even the grant programs have taken a hit because of the budgets."

Buhman indicated that one option on the table is to have drug court clients pay a fee to go through drug court.

"I think the idea of assessing some form of fee is a really good idea," Anderson said. "The alternative for all these families is certainly expensive also."

Looking toward the future, for 2010-2011, money available for drug court will depend on decisions by Iowa Legislature, Severson said. The state is partially funding drug court through June 2010.

"We hope and say lots of prayers that they find the funds to continue the program because it is very beneficial," Severson said.

The supervisors unanimously approved allocating $2,500 in Plymouth County Local Option Sales Tax revenue for drug court.