Jail assessment money to fund coordinator position

By Lauren Brown
Burns Times-Herald

The county may have a new recourse in dealing with repeat drug offenders.  County employees have  been working on and are close to implementing a Drug Court.

According to the state Department of Human Services Web site drug courts offer non-violent drug offenders a chance to clear their record by completing a course of treatment. Only three counties in the state (Harney, Grant and Lake counties) currently do not have drug courts.

Harney County has found a way to fund the court through jail assessment money, which is money that comes from the fines people pay when convicted of crimes.

The committee working on the formation of the drug court addressed the county court at the Sept. 17 meeting, updating the judge and commissioners on their progress up to this point.

Committee members include Sheriff Dave Glerup, District Attorney Tim Colahan, Tammy Wheeler, Cheryl Foster and Harney Behavioral Health Director Chris Seigner. They have determined that the best way to run the program will be to hire a full-time employee to keep track of the program participants. Judge William Cramer will oversee the program. The cost of hiring a full-time employee will be around $45,000 plus the cost of benefits.

Committee members assured the county court that the funding is there for the program and the full-time employee. In addition, three measures on the November ballot may allow for possible drug court funding streams at the county level.

However, County Judge Steve Grasty had reservations about hiring another full-time employee as the county is almost at its insurance limit. As long as the county stays under 100 employees, its insurance costs won’t go up. Once it surpasses 100 employees, it may have to pay an additional $50,000 for insurance purposes.

“The drug courts have been extremely successful in recidivism,” Judge Grasty said. “If it works, it’ll be one heck of a savings for this community.”

According to the Department of Human Services, the average annual treatment cost for a drug court participant in Oregon in the year 2000 was $2,195. To jail a drug felon for a year costs between $21,170 and $37,595.

“We’re one of the last counties in the state to implement a drug court,” District Attorney Colahan said. “The concept has been proven.”
Colahan also went on to say that the program will deal with chronic offenders. “It’s much more effective than the normal probation model,” he said.

Sheriff Glerup said that instead of urine analysis testing a couple times a month, drug court participants will be tested multiple times per week and will meet regularly with Judge Cramer. Participants pay to be in the program and are monitored more closely than offenders in the normal court system.

In the end, the court gave the committee the go ahead to fill the drug court coordinator position.