{"id":31124,"date":"2019-01-10T16:41:54","date_gmt":"2019-01-10T22:41:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=31124"},"modified":"2019-01-14T11:24:52","modified_gmt":"2019-01-14T17:24:52","slug":"prosecutors-and-court-officials-disagree-on-reason-for-downturn-in-drug-court-participation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2019\/01\/10\/prosecutors-and-court-officials-disagree-on-reason-for-downturn-in-drug-court-participation\/","title":{"rendered":"Prosecutors and court officials disagree on reason for downturn in drug court participation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_31127\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-31127\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Matt-Hall-1920x1392.jpg\" alt=\"Matt Hall outside the Oklahoma County District Courthouse\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1392\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Matt-Hall-1920x1392.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Matt-Hall-672x487.jpg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Matt-Hall-768x557.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Matt-Hall-150x109.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Matt-Hall-300x218.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Matt-Hall-620x450.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Matt-Hall-1490x1080.jpg 1490w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Quinton Chandler \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Matt Hall outside the Oklahoma County District Courthouse<\/p>\n<\/div><p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?url=https%3A\/\/api.soundcloud.com\/tracks\/557075832&color=%23ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p><p>People enrolled in the Oklahoma County Drug Court have to report to a lab for drug tests. Judge Kenneth Stoner tells more than a dozen men and women sitting on the hard wooden benches of his courtroom that if the lab is open, they have to go.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>Even if there\u2019s a snow storm, he said. \u201cGet snowshoes \u2014 find a dog sled team.\u201d<\/p><p>Drug court participant Matt Hall says drug court comes with strict deadlines. \u201cYou signed up for the program, so you have to be accountable to do all these things in order to get sobriety,\u201d he said.<\/p><p>Hall sits in the front row as the judge calls people up to discuss their progress. He pleaded into drug court last year to avoid prison time for possession of drugs and a stolen car.<\/p><p>Hall struggled with the choice to try drug court but decided it was his best option. \u201cIf this is going to be it \u2014 this is my last shot at being sober \u2014 why not try it,\u201d he said. \u201cif it doesn\u2019t work after this then so be it.<\/p><p>Drug courts give addicted defendants structure and rehab. But fewer people are participating in this program that Hall calls his last chance.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Drug court decline<\/h3><p>Drug court participation fell in Oklahoma and Tulsa Counties after voters passed State Question 780 in 2016, records show. The ballot question reclassified drug possession and low-level property crimes as misdemeanors instead of felonies.<\/p><p>State law gives district attorneys the authority to choose who can get into drug court. District attorneys warned<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tulsaworld.com\/homepagelatest\/tulsa-county-da-opposes-state-questions-on-justice-reform\/article_53c9ee69-03ab-56d4-b1e7-cbdec74f2fe3.html\"> the state question<\/a> would drive down drug court participation because it would hurt prosecutors\u2019 ability to bring addicted people into the court. DAs say the latest numbers prove they were right.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u201cSeven-eighty had a major unintended consequence,\u201d said Erik Grayless, an assistant district attorney in Tulsa County.<\/p><p>But some Oklahoma court officials disagree and say the drop is actually a result of how defendants are chosen for drug court.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_31126\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-31126\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Eric-Grayless-1920x1129.jpg\" alt=\"Eric Grayless sitting at a table inside the Tulsa County District Attorney's Office.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1129\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Eric-Grayless-1920x1129.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Eric-Grayless-672x395.jpg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Eric-Grayless-768x451.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Eric-Grayless-150x88.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Eric-Grayless-300x176.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Eric-Grayless-620x364.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Eric-Grayless-1837x1080.jpg 1837w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Quinton Chandler \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eric Grayless inside the Tulsa County District Attorney&#8217;s Office.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3>County jail vs. prison<\/h3><p>In the two years after SQ 780 passed, Tulsa Police Department made fewer arrests for drug possession, records show.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>In 2016, the year when the state question passed, Tulsa police reported 2,283 drug possession arrests. Those arrests slid to 1,499 in 2017. As of Dec. 19, Tulsa police had made 1,316 arrests in 2018 \u2014 a 42 percent drop.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>Those arrested face misdemeanor jail terms, not felony prison time.<\/p><p>Grayless said it\u2019s much harder to convince someone facing a little time in county jail to agree to the strict rules and treatment regimen in drug court.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u201cOne of those things that helped us push people into treatment was the stick,\u201d Grayless said. \u201cThe stick being the prison sentence that was hanging over their head.\u201d<\/p><p>Who deserves drug court?<\/p><p>Tulsa and Oklahoma Counties created misdemeanor drug courts last year, but prosecutors are afraid they won\u2019t be able to convince many people to use them.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>Grayless said now the only people eligible for <i>felony<\/i> drug courts are those arrested for more serious nonviolent crimes like intent to sell drugs or felony burglary.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u201cIs that the sort of person who deserves drug court?\u201d Grayless asked.<\/p><p>Grayless says prosecutors have to consider a defendant&#8217;s substance abuse problems and whether justice and public safety are better served if they go to drug court or prison. He argues SQ 780 limited the pool of people who deserve drug court.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>SQ 780 not to blame<\/h3><p>Drug court supervisors in Oklahoma and Tulsa Counties say SQ 780 is not the reason participation fell.<\/p><p>\u201cThere are still plenty of people that are committing felonies that are nonviolent that have substance abuse disorder and mental illness and would be far better off in treatment,\u201d said Tammy Westcott with the Community Service Council, which oversees <a href=\"https:\/\/csctulsa.org\/tulsa-alternative-courts\/\">alternative court programs in Tulsa County<\/a>, in a December 2018 interview.<\/p><p>Westcott, who now works as a project director for the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, said Tulsa&#8217;s drug court numbers would recover if prosecutors did a better job picking people for the program.<\/p><p>\u201cWe have seen a steady drop over the last three years it just didn\u2019t kick in when 780 and 781 kicked in,\u201d Westcott said.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_31128\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-large wp-image-31128\" src=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Tammy-Westcott-1920x1280.jpg\" alt=\"Tammy Westcott inside the Community Service Council offices in Tulsa.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Tammy-Westcott-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Tammy-Westcott-672x448.jpg 672w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Tammy-Westcott-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Tammy-Westcott-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Tammy-Westcott-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Tammy-Westcott-620x413.jpg 620w, https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/files\/2019\/01\/Tammy-Westcott-1620x1080.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Quinton Chandler \/ StateImpact Oklahoma<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tammy Westcott inside the Community Service Council offices in Tulsa.<\/p>\n<\/div><p>Westcott wants prosecutors to offer drug court to more of the higher risk defendants, like the ones Grayless referenced, because data suggest the program could help them.<\/p><p>Westcott said high-risk offenders have better outcomes through alternative courts, including drug courts and ones set up to handle DUIs and veterans.<\/p><p>Melissa French, a drug court supervisor for the Oklahoma County Public Defender\u2019s Office, said SQ 780 isn\u2019t killing its drug court either. She says their program started shrinking a few years ago because new state evaluations suggested many defendants would do better in other programs like mental health court. To refill drug court slots, court administrators loosened restrictions so people without criminal histories could join the program.<\/p>\n<h3>\u2018Ready to be sober\u2019<\/h3><p>Originally, Matt Hall in Oklahoma County didn\u2019t want to do drug court.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>\u201cMy first thought was I can\u2019t do this. I can\u2019t be sober,\u201d he said. \u201cBefore this, I wasn\u2019t even sober two weeks.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p>The threat of prison alone wasn\u2019t enough to make Hall agree. He enrolled, in part, to avoid prison, but also because he didn\u2019t want to lose his family. Hall also wanted to take the chance that he could finally live sober.<\/p><p>\u201cI was ready to do it and I\u2019ve been doing great. I was ready to be sober,\u201d Hall said.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><em>Editor&#8217;s note: This story was updated to reflect Tammy Westcott&#8217;s current employer and job title.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Drug court participation dropped after passage of a controversial state question in 2016. District attorneys and some court officials disagree whether the new law is to blame for the decrease. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":31127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"page-noFeature.php","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[12,762,996],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31124"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/201"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31124"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31144,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31124\/revisions\/31144"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}