The number of people in Virginia’s drug treatment courts saw a huge uptick this year, and fewer people who graduate from the program are ending up back in court. In 2010, 481 people were admitted to the state’s adult, juvenile and family drug treatment courts, a 29.6 percent increase from the previous year, according to the Virginia Supreme Court’s annual report to the state legislature on the drug courts.
That brought the total number of people in those courts to 906, a 41 percent increase over the 641 drug offenders who participated in 2009.
Virginia’s 28 drug treatment courts provide intensive monitoring and treatment of offenders in drug-related cases. They aim to help drug addicts and lessen the number of drug cases on regular court dockets. The state also has two treatment courts for motorists convicted of driving under the influence.
Locally, there is an adult drug court in Loudoun County, juvenile courts in Fairfax and Prince William counties and a family court in Alexandria.
So far, fewer of the offenders who completed the drug court program have been arrested again.
Of people who graduated this year, 9 percent have been re-arrested. That’s down from the 12.6 percent of 2009 graduates and 20 percent of 2008 graduates.
Those numbers are better than for those who leave without graduating and the overall recidivism rate. Virginia statistics say about 50 percent of juvenile offenders are re-arrested within a year of their release, and 29 percent of adults are back in jail — meaning they have been re-arrested and convicted — within three years.
“Drug courts really tightly monitor what they’re doing,” said Corinne Magee, a McLean criminal defense lawyer.
Magee attributed the rise in participants to more judges and prosecutors trying to address “underlying issues” related to crime.
Of those who left the program this year, 46 percent graduated and 54 percent were terminated. That’s a decline from 2009, when 48.1 percent graduated and 51.9 percent were terminated, but a big improvement from 2008, when just 18 percent graduated and 82 percent were terminated.
The most common reasons for termination for adults, the report said, were unsatisfactory performance and absconding.
Drug courts are expanding nationwide, said Chris Deutsch, communications director for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. He said the number of people diverted to drug court is usually dictated by resources and staffing levels.
A drug court “has to be able to ensure that there’s appropriate treatment for anyone who enters the court,” he said.
The most common drugs used by Virginia court participants are marijuana and alcohol.
