In the four years Newton County has had a drug court, the county has had 57 people in the program with 24 graduates.

Marty Yust, drug-court administer for Newton County, said the drug court system is based on the “treatment model.”

“They have to go through a year, in the adult system, a year in the program and four months in the assessment phase,” Yust said.

Sixteen people are still in the program and one has graduated since January. Missouri as a whole has had 90 drug-free babies born to drug court participants. More than 50 percent of adults and 51 percent of juveniles who enter drug court graduate successfully. Thirty-seven percent of adults who enter family drug court graduate and get their children back faster than without drug court. Newton County has a 56 percent rate of success with its drug court program. It has both juvenile and adult drug courts and is looking to add a family drug court.

Yust said the court is a team program where Yust, the attorneys and the judges decide what to do with each participant. He said those who successfully complete the program are employed where as before they weren’t. The participants also give back to the community by doing community service projects. Yust said the community has been helpful in the program by showing up and speaking at the graduations.

He said approximately 98 percent of the participants in the adult courts come from methamphetamine-related arrests, and different court systems have different eligibility requirements.

“We accept just about anybody, whether they’re hardcore or not,” Yust said. “We don’t pick and choose; it’s been pretty successful for us.”

Jake Skouby, assistant prosecuting attorney for Newton County, said the drug court began in Newton County to help combat the meth problem. He said the treatment aspect of the courts involves one-on-one therapy and group therapy. The thing which makes drug court different than an outpatient drug counseling program is the participants have to see a judge every week and be drug tested when they go.

“I guess some studies have shown that the fact that they have to go in and present themselves to the judge, periodically, helps them in their recovery,” Skouby said.

They know they have to explain their actions. We have sanctions in place to where if they test positive the first time, we might give them a couple of days in jail.”

If the participants test positive a second time, they receive more time in jail and more counseling. Skouby said the program has not had a graduate return to the program but has removed people from the program.

He said the drug courts have not opened to alcohol-related arrests, yet.

“Some jurisdictions around the country have DWI courts, and we don’t have that here yet,” Skouby said. “Basically, they take the drug court model, and they use it for DWI suspects. With methamphetamine, we have found that the high the people get off of methamphetamine lasts longer than cocaine. Sometimes it takes several months for their brains to start healing.”

Although the meth problem isn’t limited to Newton County, Jasper County has not started a drug court system as of yet.

Dean Dankelson, prosecuting attorney for Jasper County, said the county is in the process of setting up a drug court system.

“We’ve assembled a team of 10 people to develop a plan to develop a drug court,” Dankelson said.

He said the county needs funding for the project, then it will be able to get the program up and running. The Newton County court is funded by the state, and grants help run the courts. Yust said Jasper County would have to work out how to receive funding on its own, whether it be from the state or federal government. Jasper County is expected to have its courts up and running in 2004.

The incarceration of convicted substance abusers in Missouri prisons cost $12,731 per year per inmate. Drug court treatments cost $5,139.

“The drug court idea is a better idea,” Dankelson said. “How much success? Only time will tell.”