Drug Court Program

An individual is sentenced to participate in Drug Court after being screened and found eligible by program personnel. Drug Court requires the participant to attend regularly scheduled Court status hearings to monitor compliance in terms of probation and Drug Court directives. A contract is issued to the participants at each Court appearance which specifically outlines all expectations for the period of time between status hearings. The program is a minimum of one year and the probationer must complete all program requirements to graduate. Upon graduation the probationer is discharged from probation and if the offense is undesignated it will be designated as a misdemeanor.

Eligible for Drug Court

• Probation eligible drug related felonies with at least two years' probation
• Scored as a medium-high or high risk on the OST/FROST and spiked 67% or higher on the drug domain
• Has a history of moderate to severe substance abuse
• Must reside in the Drug Court supervision area

Not Eligible for Drug Court

• Marijuana conviction only or the probationer possesses a verified marijuana card
• Sales offenses ARE NOT eligible unless charges are pled down from sales
• Stand-alone first-strike Prop 200 cases
• Probationer does not reside in the Drug Court designated zip code area

Advantages of Drug Court

• Length of probation grant determined by probationer's compliance to program requirements
• Fines deferred
• Random drug testing
• Team supervision: Judge, Public Defender, Probation Officer, Counselor
• Treatment services based on a clinical assessment
• Rewards and incentives for program compliance
• Added resources for family
• Pro-social activities
• Credit for Community Restitution Hours