Drug court to start in July

Drug addicted offenders are getting another chance in Snyder and Union counties.
Starting the first week of July, nonviolent and drug-addicted defendants in the 17th Judicial District will have an opportunity to avoid being locked up by enrolling in a yearlong drug treatment program.
At the “persistent” urging of Union County Commissioner Preston Boop, Union-Snyder President Judge Harold F. Woelfel Jr. agreed to check out established drug treatment courts in other counties, where offenders are supervised by judges and probation officers while undergoing intensive treatment and counseling for their addictions.
To Woelfel’s surprise, he found the programs are effective in helping turn an offender’s life around.
There are about 1,950 treatment courts in the U.S., and studies show defendants who complete the program have a better chance of staying drug-free and out of trouble with the law than those who are incarcerated.
“It can help a lot of people if we assist them in maintaining sobriety,” Woelfel said, referring to defendants, their family members and society at large.
“Frankly, this will help the taxpayer,” he said.
Housing one inmate in state prison costs about $30,000 a year compared to the $4,000 annual cost per drug court participant.
“And there’s a better success rate in drug court,” Woelfel said.
Boop has estimated about 40 offenders could take part in the program at the same time.
The judge is so convinced of the program’s benefits that plans are in the works to launch by July 2009 a DUI treatment court for defendants struggling with alcohol addiction.
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The Selinsgrove school board soon will find out if the district can afford an environmentally friendly roof along with planned renovations and upgrades at the Selinsgrove elementary and high schools.
Bids will be opened the week of May 19 for the project, which includes remodeling and expanding the grades-one-and-two school and updating the high school roof, heating and ventilation systems.
If the price is within the board’s expectations, the members will give the go-ahead for a portion of the elementary school’s rooftop to be carpeted in low-maintenance plants.
School board President Eric Rowe is keen on the project, which he says will not only conserve energy and control water runoff, but could serve as a laboratory.
“I think it’s an excellent way to go,” he said.
The board, however, may have to make some tough decisions since word has come back that bids for the entire project may exceed the $17.2 million budget by $1.4 million, Rowe said.
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Northumberland County District Judge Robert J. Bolton is due back on the bench Monday after a six-week recuperation from knee surgery.
Special Judge Watson Dayton has been filling in during his absence, but Bolton still took time to demonstrate his appreciation for three office employees by sending each flowers on Administrative Professionals Day on April 23.
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Northumberland County Prison Warden Ralph Reish will be in Berwick today, continuing a legal deposition in a federal lawsuit against prison and county officials regarding former correction officer Chris Guise’s wrongful termination claims. A trial is scheduled for September.
It’s one of about four lawsuits pending against the county prison.
Another one was filed in February by inmate advocacy group the Lewisburg Prison Project, claiming the North Second Street, Sunbury, jail is unsafe and prisoners are being denied proper medical care.
One of the complaints focused on female inmates being confined to their beds for days, and even months, at a time as punishment.
Prison officials deny any wrongdoing, but they recently bought a $2,000 portable restraint chair to keep unruly inmates in for up to eight hours at a time.
“I ran it by the Lewisburg Prison Project attorney, and she was fine with it,” prison board solicitor Todd Kerstetter said of the chair.
n Marcia Moore covers Chapman, Jackson, Penn, Union and Washington townships; and Freeburg borough in eastern Snyder County. She also covers the Selinsgrove Area School District. E-mail your news to her at mmoore@dailyitem.com.

May 08, 2008 01:35 pm