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Judge Jim Pounds and court administrator Jennifer Cummings at Booneville Drug Court.
By William Moore
Daily Journal
BOONEVILLE – People convicted on felony drug charges in circuit court could have a choice between going to prison or going to drug court.
While that may sound like an easy decision, a three-year sentence to the penitentiary could end in little more than a year served with good behavior.
Drug court, however, means three years of counseling, holding down a job and the possibility of being drug tested five days a week.
“Some would rather try to ‘survive’ a trip to the penitentiary rather than go through drug court,” said Jennifer Cummings, court administrator for the First Circuit Court District Drug Court, based in Booneville. “Drug Court takes quite a commitment on their part.”
Participants must attend a support group meeting twice a week, stay away from drugs and alcohol, abide by a 10 p.m. daily curfew and be ready to submit a urine sample nearly every day. They have to pay all their fines, restitution and counseling costs. And those who dropped out of high school have to get their diploma or a general equivalency degree before they can leave the program.
But for those who graduate drug court, they are clean and have good jobs. Plus, their criminal past is well behind them.
“When we started drug court in 2008, I was one of the biggest skeptics,” said Circuit Court Judge Jim Pounds. “But I have seen it work, for the people who want it to work.
“When we first started, we had one girl who didn’t have a license or a car who hitchhiked (to Booneville) from Tupelo every week for court. We have since added a second day of court in Tupelo to help out the folks on the south end of the district.”
The three-year drug court program is broken into five phases. In phases one and two, participants go to court once a week, either Thursday afternoons in Tupelo or Friday mornings in Booneville. As they progress through the phases three through five, attendance at drug court drops to twice a month, then once a month and eventually every other month.
The first thing they do at court is provide a urine sample. The court has a $120,000 lab in the Booneville office and can process the 200 or more samples in a matter of a few hours. While attendance at court does diminish, the drug testing does not. Participants must call the office after 3 p.m. every day to see if their group is being called in for a drug test.
“We have them get in texting circles, so when one finds out, they can text the others of a random test,” Cummings said. “If they are called, they have to be here between 4 and 6 that evening.”
“If you forget a test or miss a test, that’s the same as a positive test,” Pounds said. “If someone does test positive for drugs, they have to spend time in their county jail.”
Depending on the number of positive test results a participant has had in the past, they could get four days in jail. Serious or repeated violations could have them kicked out of drug court. Recently, Pounds had three revocations, sentencing all three to five years in the penitentiary.
Infractions, whether a positive test or missing court or not attending counseling can also force them to start their phase over.
“We’ve had some folks take five years to finish the program because they kept having to start over,” Pounds said. “You hate to make someone start over when their car broke down or their ride didn’t show up or their texting buddy fell down on the job. But I didn’t make the rules. Part of drug court is for them to be responsible for themselves.”
Drug court personnel also provide a list of companies hiring for those looking for jobs or better paying jobs. In addition to making them more productive citizens, it also provides them with the means to pay off fines.
The First District Drug Court usually has around 230 participants in all five phases. Since 2008, it has seen 214 people complete the program. The 42 members of the last graduating class paid, by themselves, nearly $100,000 in fines and restitution to their home counties.
“Three years is a good start for them, but addiction is a lifetime thing – a day-to-day battle,” Pounds said.
william.moore@journalinc.com