Skagit County is set to shut down its drug court program, which for about 30 years has been helping felony offenders struggling with drug addiction.
The program began in 1997 as one of the earliest such programs in the state. It will shut down at the end of the year.
The move comes as the county continues to face a significant budget shortfall. Termination of the program will save the county $212,000 a year in local behavioral health sales tax revenue.
Those who complete drug court programs can avoid jail or prison sentences.
While there is a state program that reduces prison time to get participants treatment, the loss of the county’s drug court will be felt.
“Probably a lot of them are looking at prison sentences,” Skagit County Superior Court Judge Laura Riquelme said of possible participants.
The program stopped taking new participants. For the remaining five participants, the program was shortened from two years to one.
The county has committed to seeing the remaining participants through the end of the program.
Former Skagit County Superior Court Judge Michael E. Rickert and some local attorneys set up the program.
Skagit County Prosecuting Attorney Rich Weyrich, who in 1997 was a defense lawyer, put the first participant into the program.
Riquelme said, “The idea with these drug court programs is to address the substance use disorder, and through that process to be able to get them connected with support and stability within the community, and then hopefully at the end of the program they’ll be successful and will be able to graduate from the program, and that they won’t come back and commit more crimes because we’ve addressed the underlying issues that gave rise to the crimes.”
About 80% of drug court participants have prior felony convictions. About 75% of those who complete drug court programs do not face new felony charges in the three years following completion, said Riquelme.
In a drug court session Wednesday afternoon, participants walked up to the bench to talk to Riquelme, discussing securing childcare, doing exit interviews, continuing treatment and getting jobs.
Participants described bittersweet feelings of having the program come to its conclusion, and thanked those involved.
Riquelme serves as the judge for drug court.
“Consistency with one judicial officer is one of the hallmarks of these programs, and it’s been proven to help with the success of the participants,” she said. “It’s all about these relationships that they’re establishing.”
Typically, defense lawyers raise the option of the program with their clients.
Within 60 days of their arraignment, applicants write an essay to apply into the program.
The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office determines whether the applicant would be a good fit for the program.
“I’m looking for people who are addicted, and I’m looking for people who want, who say they want, to be (better),” Weyrich said.
Those can be people who have committed thefts, forgeries, or a burglary of a store, among others.
Some people, including those who commit violent crimes or are sex offenders, are disqualified by state law from entering the program.
If an applicant is considered a good fit, they become “observers” of drug court.
Behavioral health organization Lifeline Connections performs another assessment, determines the applicant’s risk, needs and if they have substance abuse disorder and need treatment.
Then, applicants who are accepted begin the program — going to daily sober support meetings, providing regular urine samples for analysis, talking with a case manager about housing.
“What I just heard from a drug court participant last week was that they’ve never had so much support in their lives,” said Riquelme.
Most of the participants are those facing a sentence of at least five years.
“These are people looking at potentially large amounts of prison time, because of their history and because of the nature of their charges,” Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Yost Neidzwski said.
“That’s what’s hanging over their head if they’re not successful,” said Riquelme.
After completion of the program, the participant’s charges are dismissed.
“It gives them the option to accept responsibility, not legally fight the case with motions or trials,” said Skagit County Public Defender’s Office Director Jeri Chavez, “but also, if they are successful in the program, (to) not have the punitive impacts of prison, but instead have restorative impacts — making themselves healthy, making their families more healthy, being contributing members of society, paying restitution — all those sorts of things.”
Chavez serves as the dedicated drug court defense lawyer.
Since 1997, the program has seen roughly 600 participants.
Riquelme said that while some people fail the program, for a significant number of others the program has been precisely what they needed.
“It’s been an effective program,” said Riquelme. “We’ve seen it change a lot of people’s lives.”
Chavez said she’s seen many successful drug court participants reunite with their children, who would have otherwise gone into foster care.
Others have become drug and alcohol counselors.
Weyrich said that a number of years ago a woman came up to him at a charity auction and asked to hug him because he’d accepted her daughter into drug court.
“She says, ‘You let my daughter ... into drug court. She’s been clean and sober for six years. I have two lovely little grandchildren now,’” said Weyrich.
Chavez noted that by diverting offenders from jail and prison, the program reduces costs for taxpayers.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program consistently had about 25 participants at any given time, said Riquelme. At one point, it had about 50 people.
At least 370 participants have graduated. Another 180 have been terminated from the program, and have faced their original charges.
Many of the participants are indigent, said Weyrich, which means they cannot afford basic necessities or a lawyer.
The program’s participation levels have risen and fallen during its tenure.
The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has at times not accepted new applicants. Arguments about requiring access to medication for opioid use disorder, and when to dismiss charges, have held up the program.
Weyrich has been in favor of stricter penalties for drug court participants who break the rules. That includes immediately putting them in jail or giving them community service.
“It’s really a philosophical disagreement on how you should treat people,” said Weyrich.
“I believe that drug court is a privilege, not a right.”
Though Weyrich said he thinks the program would be more effective with stricter penalties, he wasn’t saying the program isn’t successful.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the program has swung between two observers and 17 participants.
For some, the low number of participants made the program no longer cost effective.
Beginning in about 2023, those involved restructured the program, at Weyrich’s urging, so that participants with prior felony convictions would first have to plead guilty to their charges before entering the program.
If the participant does not have new charges in the two years following successful completing of the program, their case is dismissed.
The drug court is going away, Riquelme said the court hopes to gain funding in future years to restart the program.
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