DRUG COURT OR PROBATION - AN EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF MARICOPA COUNTY DRUG COURT

The nationwide drug court movement represents one of the most recent i nnovations aimed at decreasing the number of drug-involved offenders b y providing drug treatment and intensive court supervision. Although t he majority of drug courts are diversion programs, the Maricopa County (Arizona)Drug Court is a post adjudication program for probationers w ith a first-time felony conviction for drug possession. Probationers a re required to participate in an outpatient comprehensive drug treatme nt program, and their progress is monitored by the judge. The drug cou rt emphasizes individual accountability through a system of rewards an d sanctions. A total of 630 offenders sentenced in 1992 or 1993 were r andomly assigned to either the drug court or routine probation for RAN D's experimental evaluation and tracked for a period of twelve months. Results show that 40 percent of drug court participants successfully completed the treatment program within twelve months. Although there w as no statistically significant difference between participants in the drug court program and those on routine probation in terms of new arr ests, drug court participants had a lower overall rate of technical vi olations with fewer drug violations in particular. The Maricopa County Adult Probation Department has continued the drug court program, with slight modifications, and hopes to increase the number of clients ser ved within the next year.