PORT TOWNSEND — Three people graduated from Jefferson County Drug Court on Thursday, as part of a court-sanctioned drug rehabilitation process that is an alternative to incarceration.
“Before I entered the program I was hopeless,” said Jeff Crotty, one of the graduates.
“Being in jail was my career path.”
In addition to Crotty, Daniel Lund and Anna Kapstan graduated from the program, which requires participants to stay clean, sober and accountable for their actions for an average of 18 months.
They are assigned to the program as an alternative to jail, and must not have committed violent crimes.
Lund, who has not been in jail for some time, wore a bright orange t-shirt that matched the color of an inmate’s jumpsuit to the ceremony.
“I’m grateful to how Drug Court has allowed me to get my life together,” Lund said.
“My daughter and my granddaughter are both here and I am glad they can see this moment.”
The three who graduated leave another 19 in the program, Administrator Ford Kessler said.
Drug Court, which has been operating in Jefferson County since 2003, is consistently praised by police, prosecutors and participants as an effective way to kick habits and get lives on track.
But those who volunteer time to keep the program going said that declining revenue threatens its existence.
“If I am forced to cut expenses, I will need to decrease personnel,” said Prosecuting Attorney Juelie Dalzell,who has long suported the program.
“I will then need to take up some of the slack, and won’t have the time to devote to Drug Court because I will be needed to personally prosecute violent crime.”
Dalzell, who will leave office at the end of the year, was referring to the position and not herself specifically.
Dalzell, Superior Court Judge Craddock Verser, and court staff donate their time and fit Drug Court into their schedules.
They are not reimbursed by any program and their work load is assumed by other staff members so they can work in Drug Court.
To help fill in an anticipated $900,000 shortfall, the county plans to place a 0.3 percent sales tax increase on the Nov. 2 general election ballot.
Commissioners will consider the language of the ballot measure, which would increase the sales tax from 8.4 percent to 8.7 percent, on Monday, the last day they can act before the Aug. 10 deadline for placing measures on the Nov. 2 ballot.
The ballot measure also would spell out to voters what services the proposed tax increase would support, with one third of collected revenues used for law and justice.
Drug Court falls under this category, and so the proposed sales tax increase could be applied to continuing it.
“If we put someone in jail, we are responsible for their food, shelter and medical bills,” said Commissioner John Austin.
“In a trial, you can add up all the money we are spending, for the judge, prosecutor and defense attorney, which we end up paying for.”
Still, Austin said that budget cuts can’t be avoided.
“If we don’t have the money we don’t have the money,” he said.
For this reason, the sales tax increase would be an essential part of keeping Drug Court going, Austin said.
Dalzell also feels the increase is needed, because it will help to fund the positions that will allow her or her successor to spend volunteer time in Drug Court.
Dalzell, as well as other county employees, are prohibited from campaigning on behalf of the sales tax measure.
County Manager Philip Morley has told department heads to outline potential cuts in anticipation of Monday county commissioners’ meeting.
Dalzell has already penciled out the $3,700 in cuts, and persuaded the four attorneys on her criminal staff to take 5 percent pay reductions.
With these cuts, the prosecuting attorney’s office has a yearly budget of $913,000, which Dalzell said “is down to the bone.”
Dalzell said she spends about 20 hours a month attending drug court sessions, and could not estimate how many additional hours she spends writing letters and making phone calls on a graduate’s behalf.
Similarly, the cost of administering the court can’t be pinned down, since the judge and prosecutor taking time out of their schedule to run the program.
Even as they must implement drastic cuts, all three county commissioners strongly support the Drug Court program.
At Thursday’s graduation, County Commissioner David Sullivan said that witnessing a Drug Court success “is one of the reasons that I became a commissioner.”
If approved, the new sales tax would take effect on April 1, 2011.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
