ORIGINAL HOUSE                                   ENGROSSED

BILL   NO.  0082

 

ENROLLED ACT NO. 67,  HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 

FIFTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING

2001 GENERAL SESSION

 

 

 

 

AN ACT relating to drug courts; providing for the funding
of a drug court program; specifying qualifications for
funding; establishing a drug court panel; providing for
administration; creating a drug court account; providing an
appropriation; and providing for an effective date.

 

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

 

Section 1.  W.S. 5-9-101 through 5-9-107 are created
to read:

 

CHAPTER 9

DRUG COURTS

 

5-9-101.  Purpose and goals.

 

(a)  The legislature recognizes that a critical need
exists in this state for criminal justice system programs
that will break the cycle of drug and alcohol abuse and
addiction and the crimes committed as a result of drug and
alcohol abuse and addiction. Local drug court programs
shall be facilitated for the purpose of:

 

(i)  Providing sentencing options for the
judicial system to dispose of cases stemming from drug use;
and

 

(ii)  Combining judicial supervision, supervised
probation, drug testing, treatment, aftercare and
monitoring of drug court participants.

 

(b)  The goals of the drug court programs funded under
this article include the following:

 

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(i)  To reduce alcoholism and other drug
dependency among offenders;

 

(ii)  To reduce recidivism rates in both drug use
and criminal activity;

 

(iii)  To reduce the drug related court workload;

 

(iv)  To increase the personal, familial and
societal accountability of offenders; and

 

(v)  To promote effective interaction and use of
resources among criminal justice personnel, state agencies
and community agencies.

 

5-9-102.  Establishment of drug court system; drug
court account.

 

(a)  There is created a drug court account within the
special revenue fund. All interest earned on funds within
this account shall be deposited in the account.

 

(b)  Any drug court which meets all of the
qualifications of W.S. 5-9-106 and rules and regulations
properly promulgated is eligible for funding from the drug
court account in an amount not to exceed two hundred
thousand dollars ($200,000.00) for each fiscal year.

 

(c)  The department of health shall make funding
recommendations to the drug court panel based on the amount
of funding which the county supplies to its drug court. The
department of health shall make recommendations regarding a
proportionate contribution to each participating county
from the drug court account subject to the maximum amount
established in subsection (b) of this section.

 

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5-9-103.  Drug court panel.

 

(a)  The department of health shall oversee and
provide funding for the drug courts from the drug court
account. The department of health shall implement rules and
regulations specifying a funding application procedure,
certification requirements for treatment personnel
participating in the drug court program and drug court
program office guidelines. In order to maximize federal
financial participation, compliance with the United States'
Department of Justice Drug Court Program guidelines shall
be considered by the department.

 

(b)  A drug court panel shall consist of the following
persons or their designees: chairman of the board of
judicial policy and administration, chairman of the
governor's substance abuse and violent crime advisory
board, director of the department of health, the attorney
general, director of the department of family services,
director of the department of corrections and the state
public defender. The panel, upon recommendations from the
department of health, shall make all funding
determinations. The panel shall determine whether a local
drug court management committee which makes application for
drug court funding meets the criteria established by W.S.
5-9-106.

 

(c)  Any expenses incurred in implementing this act
shall be paid from the drug court account by the department
of health. Administrative expenses shall be minimized and
shall not exceed ten percent (10%) of the amounts
appropriated to the drug court system.

 

(d)  Those members of the drug court panel who are not
full-time employees of the state of Wyoming shall receive
as compensation one hundred twenty-five dollars ($125.00)

 

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for each day necessarily employed in attending the meetings
of the board, and shall also receive per diem and mileage
allowance as allowed to state employees for attending the
meetings and performing the duties incumbent upon them as
members of the drug court panel.

 

5-9-104.  Local drug court management committee.

 

(a)  A local drug court management committee shall be
established by each local drug court. The members of this
management committee shall be actively involved with the
drug court. The management committee shall consist of:

 

(i)  The judge who presides over the local drug
court;

 

(ii)  One (1) prosecuting attorney, selected by
the county or district attorney;

 

(iii)  One (1) member of the bar who practices
criminal defense, selected by the judge of the drug court;

 

(iv)  A monitoring officer, agreed upon by the
attorney members of the committee and the judge; and

 

(v)  A representative of the treatment providers,
agreed upon by the attorney members of the committee and
the judge.

 

(b)  The five (5) members of the local drug court
management committee specified in subsection (a) of this
section may appoint additional members.

 

(c)  All members shall be residents of, or practicing
in the county or counties served by the local drug court.

 

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(d)  Each local drug court management committee shall
manage the funds received from the drug court account, meet
any reporting requirements of the department of health and
appoint a drug court coordinator or program manager who
shall be responsible for administration and oversight of
the court and will be the primary contact for outside
agencies.

 

(e)  The drug court coordinator or program manager and
any other persons employed shall receive compensation as
determined by the local drug court management committee.

 

5-9-105.  Application; selection by drug court panel;
report on grants awarded.

 

(a)  Requests for new or continued funding of drug
courts may be submitted annually by any local drug court
management committee to the drug court panel on dates set
by the department of health. Submitted proposals shall be
in a form provided and prescribed by the department of
health, which shall, at a minimum, require the qualifying
information provided by W.S. 5-9-106.

 

(b)  The Wyoming Criminal Justice Statistical Analysis
Center within the University of Wyoming shall be utilized
in providing appropriate data for a proposal.

 

(c)  The drug court panel shall award grants to only
those drug courts which meet the standards required by this
article and rules and regulations promulgated by the
department of health.

 

(d)  In accordance with determinations of the drug
court panel, the department of health shall annually
distribute funds to the management committee of selected
drug courts on or before September 1. Drug court grants

 

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received under this article shall only be used for the
purposes for which the grant is awarded and shall not be
expended for any other program, activity or purpose.

 

(e)  The department of health shall, on behalf of the
drug court panel, annually report to the governor and the
joint labor, health and social services committee on the
selected drug courts which receive funding. The report
shall include an evaluation of the drug courts and a
determination of whether each drug court funded under this
article is successful in meeting the objectives of this
article.

 

5-9-106.  Qualifications.

 

(a)  To be eligible for funding from the state drug
court account a local drug court shall:

 

(i)  Integrate substance abuse treatment services
with the justice system case processing;

 

(ii)  Use a nonadversarial approach involving
both the prosecution and defense counsel to promote public
safety while providing appropriate treatment for the
adjudicated individual;

 

(iii)  Identify eligible participants early and
promptly place the eligible participant in the drug court
program;

 

(iv)  Provide access to a continuum of substance
abuse related treatment and rehabilitation services;

 

(v)  Monitor long term abstinence by frequent
drug and alcohol testing;

 

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(vi)  Coordinate a strategy which will guide drug
court responses to a participant's compliance with the
program requirements;

 

(vii)  Facilitate ongoing judicial interaction
with each drug court participant;

 

(viii)  Monitor and evaluate the achievement of
program goals and gauge the effectiveness of the program;

 

(ix)  Continue interdisciplinary education which
promotes effective drug court planning, implementation and
operations;

 

(x)  Forge partnerships among drug courts, public
agencies, community-based organizations and private
foundations and businesses which generate local support and
enhance the effectiveness of the drug court program; and

 

(xi)  Have maximized the use of available federal
funding from the United States department of justice drug
court program under the guidelines of title 42, section
3796ii of the United States Code.

 

5-9-107.  Conditions for admission to a drug court
program.

 

(a)  Each drug court shall establish conditions for
referral of proceedings to the court consistent with drug
court program office guidelines. Any proceeding accepted by
the drug court program for disposition shall be upon
agreement of the parties. Any drug court participant shall
agree to the release of medical and other records relevant
to the treatment of the participant pursuant to subsection
(b) of this section.

 

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(b)  Drug court staff, designated by the judge, shall
be provided with access to all records of any state or
local government agency relevant to the treatment of any
program participant. Agency employees shall fully inform a
drug court staff of all matters relevant to the treatment
of the participant. No contents of records and reports
shall be disclosed to any person outside of the drug court.
The records and reports shall be maintained by the court in
a confidential file not available to the public.

 

Section 2.  W.S. 7-19-106(a) by creating a new
paragraph (ix) is amended to read:

 

7-19-106.  Access to, and dissemination of,
information.

 

(a)  Criminal history record information shall be
disseminated by criminal justice agencies in this state,
whether directly or through any intermediary, only to:

 

(ix)  Drug court staff utilizing the information
pursuant to the drug court act in title 5, chapter 9.

 

Section 3.  One million five hundred thousand dollars
($1,500,000.00) is appropriated from the general fund to
the drug court account to be expended by the department of
health for purposes of this act.

 

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Section 4.  This act is effective July 1, 2001.

 

(END)

 

 

 

 

                                     

Speaker of the House                  President of the Senate

 

                                              

                 Governor                     

                                              

                 TIME APPROVED: _________     

                 DATE APPROVED: _________     

 

I hereby certify that this act originated in the House.

 

 

Chief Clerk

 

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