Lee Pulaski, lpulaski@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Lee Pulaski Marinette County Circuit Court Judge James Morrison talks to the Shawano County Board on Wednesday about the drug court program in his county. The board unanimously approved a resolution to start a similar program for Shawano County.
Shawano County is one of five counties in Wisconsin that does not have a drug court. That will change Jan. 1.
The county board unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday establishing the court. Details still need to be worked out, but the resolution gave approval to start the process.
Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court Judge William Kussel Jr. will preside over the drug court. He participated in a drug court program when he was a prosecutor for the Menominee Tribe.
Kussel expects there will be 10 to 13 offenders in the program initially. A committee, working with recommendations from District Attorney Greg Parker, will determine who will go through the program.
Participants in the drug court will have daily curfews, be subject to random drug tests and be required to go through programs in order to complete the program. They will not be allowed to have prescription drugs unless they can prove that a doctor prescribed them.
National statistics cited in the county’s resolution indicate that about 60 percent of all people arrested test positive for illegal drugs, and half of the prison inmates are clinically addicted to drugs.
Drug addicts put a strain on the county’s law enforcement and medical services, and increase the need for public assistance, according to the resolution.
The county cited studies that showed recidivism rates drop about 30 percentage points, from 46 to 16 percent after one year of release, and from 60 to 27 percent after two years.
County Supervisor Deb Noffke expressed support for the program, noting that much of it could be paid for by grants — keeping county expenses down — and that the drug court grants are one of the few things that the state Legislature has increased funding for annually.
“It’s really focused on recidivism, to try and keep someone from circling the drain,” Noffke said. “If you can help at least one person succeed, you’ve won.”
Marinette County Circuit Court Judge James Morrison helped start a drug court there four years ago. He told the Shawano County Board about the problems his county had with drug rates before the court was in place.
“Our problem was very similar to yours, except we made the front page of the Wall Street Journal with our drug problems in Marinette County,” Morrison said. “We had the highest per capita heroin death overdose rate in the state of Wisconsin and in the top 20 for the country.”
The drug court hasn’t made the overdose deaths and other drug woes go away, Morrison said, but it has made an impact. Not all addicts are bad people, he said, but the drugs make those people do bad things, including robbery and prostitution, to get their next fix.
“We have had 37 drug court participants,” Morrison said. “In the period of time, we have had nine graduates and 11 have failed and gone to prison.”
The remaining 17 are making their way through the program, he clarified. He noted those participants are sober and employed.
“The program is very difficult for the participants, but it’s highly effective,” Morrison said.
Kussel said Wisconsin is becoming well-known for having a drug problem, most recently with opiates. He believes the drug court would help.
“What drug court does is it gives people a chance to change their lives,” Kussel said. “It’s not a get-out-of-jail-free card. It’s also not a magic pill. I can’t say that if you put someone in drug court, it’s magic and they won’t have a drug problem anymore.”