Wyoming Drug Courts
What's the purpose of a Drug Court?
Of those who are incarcerated in Wyoming more than 80% are involved in drug and alcohol abuse. The purpose of a drug court is to offer the participants the opportunity to obtain adequate and appropriate treatment that will facilitate and promote a lifestyle of recovery, thereby reducing the number of repeat offenders and reducing overcrowding in our detention centers.
Who are key players in a Drug Court?
A drug court is unique in bringing the facilitating agencies to the same table for the benefit of the offender. The drug court judge, coordinator, prosecutor, public defender, treatment providers, law enforcement, and other agencies work together in collaboration to encourage the defender's success. This collaborative effort also extends outside of the courtroom to other agencies helping the offender such as social service staff, health providers, job training representatives and others. The strength and effectiveness of a drug court lies in the communication between involved players.
Why a Drug Court?
Facts:
- Alcohol-related fatal crashes in Wyoming occur at DOUBLE the US average
- Hospital admissions for alcohol and drug-induced causes in Wyoming have increased nearly 25% over the last 10 years
- Arrests for both drug-related crimes and assaults (which often involve substance abuse) have more than doubled in Wyoming in the last decade
- Alcohol-related arrests occur in Wyoming at twice the national average
- Fewer than 1 in 10 Wyoming residents who need substance abuse treatment receive it. (Statistics taken from Wyoming Indicators of Substance Abuse: 1987-98 and Wyoming's Youth: Indicators of Substance Abuse 1987-98 by the Wyoming Department of Health.)
- Having a drug court in place will allow corrective actions to be taken when a drug or alcohol offender is identified through the judicial system.
- A drug court will interrupt the repetitive cycle of an offender by using rehabilitative measures.
- Rehabilitating an individual will save taxpayer dollars in several different ways: treatment costs less than jail, less crime to support a habit, less insurance costs, a working citizen who pays taxes instead of using tax dollars, and a healthy parent to care for their own children.
- A drug court will treat the problem, not the symptoms.
FY05
Fiscal year 2005 saw the state funding of seventeen drug courts in Wyoming. Seven of these drug courts were juvenile programs, with the remaining ten serving adult populations. The four juvenile programs are located in Big Horn County, Campbell County, Fremont County, Johnson County, Sheridan County, Uinta County and the Tribal Juvenile Substance Abuse Court. The adult courts serve Albany County, Campbell County, Fremont County, Laramie County, Lincoln County, Natrona County, Park County, Sheridan County, Teton County and Uinta County. However, there are additional courts or programs that are serving their communities without state funding and these include: Natrona County, Laramie County and Sublette County.
You can download the Department of Health, Substance Abuse Division Rules and Regulations for State Funding and Certification of Drug Courts (Adobe Acrobat file approximately 124KB).
Read further statutory authority on drug courts, their purpose and goals, establishment of, the drug court panel, local management committees, applications for funding, qualifications for funding, and conditions for admission as a drug court program.
If you need the Acrobat reader, the latest version is available from Adobe.