BY JANE PRENDERGAST
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT -- Northern Kentucky's second drug court could be operating in Campbell County by the end of the year.
The county is one of five waiting to learn whether it will share a $690,000 grant from the state Justice Cabinet, money that would be used to organize and start a Campbell court aimed at rehabilitating drug users instead of jailing them.
The court would be the fifth in the state, after Louisville, Lexington, Bowling Green and Covington, and would be presided over by Circuit Judge William Wehr. Those courts also would share in the money.
"We have plans to jump right into it if the funding comes through," Judge Wehr said Monday. "We're keeping our fingers crossed now." Kenton County began its court in April without any start- up money, but its program also would share in the justice money, if approved. Kenton also applied for a $35,000 planning grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Both Northern Kentucky counties also would benefit from several other grants for which the state Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) has applied.
Those monies, also expected to be announced soon, would pay for a statewide needs study of drug courts and their costs, as well as a computer system that would link all Kentucky drug courts.
Judge Wehr, while he said he is eager to get a drug court started in Campbell County, said he did not think starting one without seed money would work.
Too many people involved, including prosecutors, probation officers and others, have heavy workloads now. Adding more to it without any financial support would be too much, he said.
Drug courts focus on keeping convicted users in treatment and in jobs instead of putting them behind bars.
This philosophy was arrived at after many judges began seeing the same users repeatedly.
Drug courts are cheaper, too, according to the National Association of Drug Court Professionals -- less than $2,500 a year per offender versus as much as $50,000 annually to keep a drug user behind bars.
