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King County
Drug Diversion Court Program

The mission of King County Drug Diversion Court is to combine the resources of the criminal justice system, drug and alcohol treatment and other community service providers to compel the substance-abusing offender to address his or her substance abuse problem.

Goals of the Program

King County Drug Diversion Court has eight primary goals:

  1. Reduce substance use and related criminal activity.
  2. Enhance community safety.
  3. Reduce reliance on incarceration for non-violent drug dependant offenders.
  4. Hold drug dependent offenders accountable for their actions and decisions.
  5. Integrate substance abuse treatment with criminal justice case processing.
  6. Provide resources and support to assist the drug dependent offender in the acquisition of skills necessary for the maintenance of sobriety.
  7. Reduce the impact of drug related cases on criminal justice resources.
  8. Reward positive life changes while maintaining accountability for negative conduct.

 

 

Eligibility Criteria

 

·        Link to Eligibility Criteria

Program Description

The King County Drug Diversion Court (KCDDC) is a pre-sentencing program that provides eligible defendants the opportunity to receive drug treatment in lieu of incarceration. Eligible defendants can elect to participate in the program or proceed with traditional court processing.  

After choosing to participate in the program, defendants come under the court's supervision and are required to attend treatment sessions, undergo random urinalysis, and appear before the drug court judge on a regular basis. If the defendants meet the requirements of each of the three levels of drug court, they graduate from the program and the charges are dismissed.  If drug court defendants fail to make progress they are terminated from the program and sentenced on their original charge.

 KCDDC was implemented in August 1994. In March, 2003 a drug court calendar was established at the Regional Justice Center in Kent.

KCDDC was the twelfth drug court to be implemented in the country.  Currently, every state in the United States has a drug court and approximately 1000 are in operation across the nation.  

Drug Court case processing is efficient - a greater number of cases are heard in a shorter amount of time than in traditional case processing.  This efficiency enables criminal justice agencies in King County to more effectively allocate resources.

 

Program Statistics

Since the program’s inception:

·        Between August, 94 and May 5, 2004 (Seattle and Kent sites)

·        5,948 defendants have been referred to drug court;

·        3,071 defendants have opted into the drug court program;

·        of those that entered treatment, 350 are currently active in the program –  622 have graduated;

·        Approximately 178 cases have been referred to the Kent Drug Court, with 84 opting-in.  The Kent program has been operational since March 1. 2003.  

 

Of those that enter the program,

·        26% identified heroin as their first drug of choice

·        28% identify cocaine as their first drug of choice

·        50% report daily use

·        66% are unemployed

·        25% are without permanent residence

 

National Public Radio audio story on King County's Drug Court

Drug Court (Real Audio file)
National Public Radio reports on King County's Drug Court, which offers treatment to drug offenders instead of jail time.
>>Visit NPR's web site
>>Download the Real Player

Evaluation

Program Evaluation

 

1.      MM Bell, 1998, Outcome Evaluation - one year following Drug Court involvement 9% of drug court graduates had new felony charges while 25% of those who declined or failed the program had new felony charges”. [1]

2.      U of WA. Institute for Alcohol and Substance Abuse, Outcome and Process Evaluation, 1999 and continuing to 2000. [2] Evaluation of Washington State’s six major adult drug court programs comparing re-offense, new conviction and re-incarceration rates of offenders eligible for drug court that declined to enter or terminated treatment with “graduates” of the drug court program. The study’s core findings show that drug court graduates have favorable outcomes:

 

Arrest:          

Graduates have fewer re-arrests following drug court referral than any of the other outcome groups.  In King County the mean arrest rate for the drug court graduate group continue to decline from the first year post graduation through the third year post graduation.

 

Court Filings:         

Graduates have the lowest referral/filing rate of the three groups studied.  

 

Prison Incarceration:       

Graduates have zero or near zero rates of imprisonment in the following graduation from the drug court.

 

Earned Income:

Graduate groups, and only graduate groups, show systematic and substantial increases in incomes following referrals to drug courts.   Data on earnings retrieved from the State Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse revealed that “graduates of the Drug Court program showed increased earnings, and the increases significantly and substantially exceed those of the other groups” (those who are eligible but decline participation or enter and fail).

Cost effectiveness
Numerous large-scale cost-benefit analyses reveal that every dollar spent on drug treatment saves between $2 and $7 on law enforcement, corrections, health care, lost productivity and welfare.

The average cost for the treatment component of a drug court program ran between $1,200 and $3,000 per participant, depending on the range of services provided. Savings in jail bed days alone have been estimated to be at least $5,000 per defendant.

The Wall Street Journal
Tuesday, Jan. 6, 1998

Contact information
For more information regarding the King County Drug Court Program contact King County Drug Diversion Court Services, (206) 296-7884.

Updated: May, 2004

Link to National Association of Drug Court Professionals

King County Superior Court Clerk's Office

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[1] King County Drug Court Program Evaluation, Final Report.   Merlin Bell and Associates, 1998, p. 4.

[2] University of Washington NW HIDTA Drug Court Evaluation, January 2001.