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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Snyder

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

01/21/06

HB

SHORT TITLE Expand and Create Drug Courts

SB 134

ANALYST McSherry

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

$1,160.1

Recurring

General

$530.8

Recurring

General

$883.2

Recurring

General

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Senate Bill 134 is a companion to House Bill 182, and relates to Senate Bill 144.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

Public Defender (PD)

Children Youth and Families Department (CYFD)

SUMMARY

Senate Bill 134, “Expand and Create Drug Courts” appropriates a total of $2,574.1 thousand

from the general fund to the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) for the purposes of:

Replacing lapsing drug court funds in the 1

st

, 2

nd

, 3

rd

, 11

th

12

th

and 13

th

judicial districts,

McKinley County and for administrative support ($1,160.1 thousand);

Expanding existing drug courts in the 3

rd

, 4

th

, 5

th

, 6

th

, 8

th

, 11

th

, 12

th

, and 13

th

judicial dis-

tricts ($530.8 thousand); and

Creating new drug courts in the 4

th

, 7

th

, 8

th

, 9

th

, and 13

th

judicial districts ($883.2 thou-

sand).

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $2,574.100 thousand contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the gen-

eral fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2007

shall revert to the general fund.

Senate Bill 134 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

Both the LFC and executive budget recommendations include the $1,160,000 included in this

bill for replacement of lapsing drug court funds. The executive recommendation for the 7

th

and

9

th

judicial districts includes expansion drug court funding in the amount of $200 thousand and 3

associated FTE for each district. The House Appropriations and Finance Committee have in-

cluded the replacement and executive-recommended expansion funds their recommendation at

this point.

According to CYFD, an additional 8 juvenile probation officer staff would be needed to super-

vise a specialized caseload in the proposed new and expansion programs.

Most drug courts in the state demonstrate a lower recidivism rate for offenders who participate in

a drug court program than the recidivism rate for those offenders who do not participate in a drug

court program.

The average cost per day for drug court ($11 -$40/day per client) is substantially less than the

cost per day for juvenile detention or jail time; however, the length of a drug court program is

typically greater (1 year +) than the time an individual would have spent incarcerated.

The Corrections Department during the 2005 session asserted that minimal savings will be in-

curred by the Corrections Department through the increase in number and size of drug courts.

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

Districts proposed to introduce new drug court programs do not yet have performance measures

established. Drug courts which are in existence have measures such as recidivism rates, gradua-

tion rates and cost per client per day.

The courts have not yet proposed whether improvements to current performance targets would

result from the proposed expanded and new drug court programs.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

Increasing the funding for this program will increase the responsibilities for the oversight for the

programs by the individual districts and AOC.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

The general appropriations act as it is currently written includes the funds for drug court lapsing

funds replacement. HAFC has adopted expansions of $200 thousand and 3 FTE for the 7

th

and

9

th

judicial districts for a total of $400 thousand in expansion for drug courts.

House Bill 182 is a companion to Senate Bill 134, and relates to Senate Bill 144 which proposes

the conversion of drug court Corrections Department staff into judicial employees.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

Not enacting the bill will result in the drug court programs continuing as they are currently situ-

ated because all replacement funds are included in the general appropriations act already.

Not enacting the bill would result in: replacing lapsing federal funds only once, and not funding

some new and/or expanded programs requested by the judiciary.

Senate Bill 134 – Page

3

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

1.

How were districts prioritized as to their readiness to introduce a new or expanded drug

court program. Where all districts which wanted to expand included in the request for

additional drug courts.

2.

How many FTE are associated with each of the proposed expansions of existing pro-

grams and/or introduction of new drug court programs.

3.

How many new clients would be part of the new and expanded drug court programs.

4.

Are all districts requesting expanded drug courts currently at capacity with their existing

programs.

5.

Is the demand for drug courts uniform among those courts requesting new programs.

How does the level of drug court demand relate to the level of funding requested.

6.

What is the average savings per drug court participant when comparing total drug court

cost per person to total incarceration/other consequence cost.

7.

Have other sources of funding been pursued for any or all of the requested drug courts.

Where courts required to extinguish all funding options before proposing state sponsored

funds.

6EM/sec:nt