by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
The City’s Drug Court programs could avoid a potentially detrimental shortfall next year if some hefty legislation gets City Council approval.
A bill filed by Council member Daniel Davis last Tuesday would appropriate $500,000 to fund Juvenile and Adult Drug Courts through September 2006.
Davis, who has been working with Chief Judge Donald Moran for weeks prior to drafting the bill, said those programs “are doing a good job and should be kept in operation.”
“But the real benefit is it takes people who have had a problem with drugs and keeps them out of corrections while offering them treatment and an incentive to get better,” he said. “The cost to fund Drug Court is substantially less than what it costs to process people through the system.”
If Drug Court participants complete the year-long program, the charges against them are dropped and they avoid adjudication.
“I know many of my colleagues believe in saving Drug Court, so I think it would be welcome news if this legislation were to pass,” Davis said.
The proposed $500,000 was generated by the Duval County Clerk of the Courts Office as part of its non-court operations side. Court operations are budgeted by the state. Clerk Jim Fuller said an influx in the local real estate market caused the rate of recording fee collections to skyrocket.
“The interest rates have been so low and that’s allowed for a lot more activity in the market,” Fuller said. “We have to record all of that which has caused us to be very busy this year. The next thing you know we’re looking to collect about $2.8 million before the end of the fiscal year.”
Even after the Clerk’s Office reimburses the City for the money it borrowed last year to maintain regular operations, Fuller said there would be more than enough to allocate the $500,000 to help fund Drug Court.
“And that’s what I’ve told the mayor’s office,” Fuller said. “I think it’s a good positive program and I wanted to find a way to help it out.
“It’s the City’s money and they can do whatever they want with it. This is just a suggestion I have.”
In recent months, many of the State Attorney’s Judicial Alternatives programs, which also include the Law Library and now Teen Court, hit a bit of a stumbling block after a newly-enacted $65 processing fee at the courthouse failed to meet expectations.
Money will continue to be tight, Davis said, but the $500,000 could help Drug Court out “until the $65 ramps up.”
“Unfortunately that’s all we can commit to for now,” he said. “But hopefully all of that will get worked out before we have to address this issue again. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”