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Problem-solving court

Success in one area of a “problem-solving criminal court” in this part of the Fourth Judicial Circuit has led to the addition to two more areas, and Fayette County is among the latest to be a part of that latest addition.
Fayette, Clay and Jasper counties joined Effingham and Christian counties two weeks ago in the mental health and veterans aspect of the “problem-solving court” operated in Effingham County.
Some mental health or veterans cases with criminal charges are now being handled in the same fashion as some drug cases have been resolved for the past eight years.
Judge James Harvey, who is now retired from the bench, started a drug court in 2006, and Judge Ericka Sanders took over that specialized court in 2011.
The drug court is a national model that was initiated in Illinois about 25 years after that type of problem-solving court was started in Florida.
After Harvey started the drug court in Effingham County, the Illinois legislature required every county to refer appropriate cases to a drug court.
It’s a novel approach, Sanders said, to giving more-appropriate sentences in drug cases, most often for individuals who have already been to prison on drug crimes.
“It’s a case of ‘We tried this and it didn’t work; let’s find the reasons that it didn’t and come up with something that will,’” Sanders said.
The problem-solving court model has three phases, with criminal offenders required to report to court regularly, every Friday in phase I, every other Friday in phase II and every third Friday in phase III.
The offenders are required to undergo treatment that includes attending classes, regular meetings with their probation officers and regular drug tests.
“There are immediate sanctions and rewards,” Sanders said.
Those who fail to complete requirements set in problem-solving court can be returned to regular court for re-sentencing or the misstep can be handled in the problem-solving court.
The problem-solving court is a 2½-year program for individuals who are referred to the court, most often at the request of an individual’s legal counsel.
Fayette County was allowed to refer individuals to the drug court in Effingham County about two years ago, and two Fayette County individuals have graduated from the program.
Without the drug court, Sanders said, “Both of them would have gone to prison and both did not have custody of their children.
“They are now working full-time, are raising their children in a safe and clean living environment and they are productive members of society,” Sanders said.
“And in addition to working full-time, they are not on public assistance and their kids are not in foster care, which is a huge drain on our system,” she said.
Problem-solving court, Sanders said, “is the best and most-effective program that we have.
“It is the most effective thing that we have for the high-risk population,” she said.
In addition to being effective, problem-solving court is saving taxpayers a lot of money, Sanders said.
The cost for each person going through problem-solving court is less than $6,000 for the 2½-year program; it costs about $25,000 a year to incarcerate an individual, she said.
“In the past six years, we have had six graduates. If they all would have gotten the minimum, and most of them wouldn’t have because they were repeat offenders, that would have been $375,000 per person,” she said.
“This is saving (taxpayers) millions and millions of dollars,” Sanders said.
Last fall, Effingham County applied for a Redeploy Illinois grant to start a similar court for mental health and veterans cases, Sanders said.
Then, court personnel in Fayette, Clay and Jasper counties pooled their resources in order to expand the court for individuals in those three counties.
“It truly is a team approach,” Sanders said, noting that Fayette County’s chief probation officer, Meredith Stewart, “has been a big proponent of this program.’
Joshua Morrison, Fayette County’s state’s attorney, can also be counted as one of the proponents.
“This problem-solving court gives the offender what he or she needs,” Morrison said.
“The logic is that prison isn’t working, so let’s see if they can be straightened out another way,” he said.
“These people need help – they don’t need prison,” Morrison said.
The advantages to the problem-solving court are numerous, Morrison said, explaining that he has seen personally how this type of remedy is appropriate in such cases as a veteran suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder.
“I have a soft heart for veterans, as I’ve always said, because I have seen it personally,” Morrison said. “So, I know how it’s better to get that person the appropriate treatment, something that will help them and make them productive members of society.”
While going through the problem-solving court program keeps individuals from going to prison, he said, it’s not an easy way out for them.
“They are strict – you don’t get to miss meetings or not comply in other ways,” Morrison said.
“If they mess up, the court can change directions, try another type of treatment, or if it’s a serious violation, they can be brought in for re-sentencing,” he said.
Like Sanders, Morrison also sees the benefit to the taxpayers.
“You are talking about a potentially huge judicial savings,” he said.

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