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Olmsted County Drug Court receives final approval from Minnesota Judicial Council

Posted: Wednesday, May 25, 2016

The soon-to-open Olmsted County Drug Court cleared one of its last remaining hurdles last week, securing final approval from the policymaking body of the Minnesota Judicial Branch. On Thursday, the Minnesota Judicial Council reviewed the implementation plan for the new drug court program, and verified that the program will meet state and national best practices and standards.
 
“This is a major step forward for the Olmsted County Drug Court,” said Third Judicial District Judge Kathy Wallace, who will preside over the program alongside Third Judicial District Judge Christina Stevens. “To secure this approval from the Minnesota Judicial Council, our program went through a rigorous evaluation process that ensured we are complying with national standards that are based upon 20 years of lessons learned from drug courts all across the country. With this approval, our program will be able to seek ongoing state funding to support our goals of reducing recidivism among drug offenders and improving public safety in our community.”
 
Drug courts are specialized, treatment court programs that target criminal offenders who suffer from addiction to alcohol or other drugs and/or mental illness. The programs involve close collaboration between judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, treatment providers, probation officers, law enforcement, educational and vocational experts, and community leaders. Through this collaboration, drug courts closely monitor the defendant's progress toward sobriety and recovery through ongoing treatment, frequent drug testing, and regular mandatory check-in court appearances. The programs use a range of immediate sanctions and incentives to foster behavior change.
 
Olmsted County Drug Court officials expect the program to begin operating in mid-June. The program will focus on high-risk/high-need felony offenders who reside in Olmsted County. Participants will go through a five-phase program that will last at least 15 months, and will receive individualized treatment and case plans, trauma screening, and mental health and cognitive behavioral therapy. Offenders in the program will face random drug testing, and significant monitoring and supervision.
 
“A successful drug court relies on strong support from throughout the community,” said Joe Vogel, who serves as coordinator of the Olmsted County Drug Court. “We are working closely with dozens of community organizations to ensure that offenders entering our program receive the help they need to get sober, stay sober, and leave our program ready to become law-abiding and productive community members. This means not only providing chemical health treatment, but also support in finding employment, securing housing, and meeting other basic needs.”
 
For now, program officials aim to have approximately 10 participants in the program at any given time. With the possibility of state or federal funding on the horizon, they hope the program can be expanded to serve 20 to 25 offenders at a time in the future.
 
Today, the Olmsted County Drug Court is being funded through an appropriation from the Olmsted County board, but local leaders are currently pursuing Implementation Grants from the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Minnesota Judicial Branch to fund the program. In addition, receiving approval from the Minnesota Judicial Council means the program is eligible to apply for ongoing state funding from the Minnesota Drug Court Initiative.
 
Drug Courts: A Proven Model
 
Drug courts are one of the most heavily studied and evaluated criminal justice tools. Many state and national studies have shown the real, positive impact of drug courts: reduced recidivism, lower incarceration costs, and better outcomes for offenders struggling with addiction.
 
In Minnesota, a 2012 statewide evaluation comparing more than 500 drug court participants to nearly 650 offenders with similar profiles who did not enter a drug court program showed that drug court participants:
  • Had lower recidivism rates over two-and-a-half years.
  • Spent fewer days incarcerated, saving the state on average $3,200 per participant over two-and-a-half years.
  • Showed gains in employment, educational achievement, home rental or ownership, and payment of child support over the run of the program.
In 2014, the Minnesota Judicial Branch released a follow-up to that 2012 evaluation, which tracked the progress of the same drug court participants and similar offenders over an additional year-and-a-half. The new evaluation found that drug court participants – now four years removed from their entry into a drug court program – continued to show significantly lower recidivism rates and reduced incarceration costs.
 
“Decades of research on drug courts have all come to the same conclusion – drug courts work,” said Judge Wallace. “These are proven criminal justice tools that reduce recidivism, save significant amounts of taxpayer money by keeping offenders sober and out of incarceration, and change lives for the better. I’m so grateful that our community has come together to support this important initiative.”
 
There are currently 54 operational drug courts in Minnesota.
 
About Minnesota’s Third Judicial District
The Third Judicial District consists of the 11 counties of southeast Minnesota, including Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Rice, Steele, Wabasha, Waseca, and Winona. Twenty-four judges and one referee serve the district. In 2015, more than 66,000 cases were filed in Third Judicial District courts.