Federal grant will help inmate Drug Court

Wednesday, Oct. 27, 1999 | 11:41 a.m.

Scott Scherer, Gov. Kenny Guinn's legal counsel, said the money will permit the stalled program "to get off the ground."

There are about 400 drug courts in the nation but Nevada's will be the first to accept prison inmates, according to Clark District Judge Jack Lehman who started the drug court program in the state.

A new law setting up the program required the prison system to show savings before the state would fund the program. The federal Justice Department grant will allow the prison system to do that.

The state expects to save on food, medical supplies, uniforms and incidentals for inmates. But those costs don't add up to the estimated $2,500 annual cost per inmate for the drug program.

The grant proposal requested $3,700 per inmate to allow 100 inmates to be released in phases from state prisons to the drug court in Las Vegas and 50 prisoners to Reno. The courts will receive $2,500 per inmate. The other $1,200 per inmate will go to the state Division of Parole and Probation for officers to supervise them.

Lehman said 1,212 people have graduated from the drug court program in Las Vegas, which currently takes offenders on probation. Of those, only 18 percent have been in trouble with the law since then.

The expanded program will be restricted to nonviolent inmates who have had no problems in prison. Prime candidates are likely in prison for other nonviolent crimes such as fraudulent checks, cheating at gambling, burglary or stolen credit cards. But drugs are the root of their problems.

Before being released, inmates would have to have housing and a job. But Lehman and other judges have vowed to help in these areas.