Judge Daniel Creitz admits he was wrong about the 31st Judicial Districts Drug Court, an alternative to prison that requires intensive monitoring for those convicted or charged with drug-related crimes.
When then-sheriff Tom Williams, now a county commissioner, asked him in 2011 to introduce the program, Creitz wanted to say no. It would require a lot more work, especially for underpaid and overworked district court and community corrections staff. It meant more drug testing and more intensive monitoring, which demand time and money.
My problem with Drug Court wasnt that it wasnt a good program. It was that I was going to put this burden on my staff, Cretiz told Iola Area Chamber of Commerce members at an educational breakfast Thursday. But they bought into it and they love the program.
So far, 54 people have graduated from Drug Court since it began in 2013. The next graduation is at 4 p.m. May 3.
And after five years, just 2 percent of those who have graduated from Drug Court later committed drug-related felonies. Eleven percent have been convicted of misdemeanors and 6 percent convicted of felonies. About 62 people are currently enrolled in Drug Court.
Tom Williams was right. I was wrong. Its a great program, Creitz said. Weve changed lives. Those people now have jobs. Families, a lot of times, have been put back together. Theyre working, theyre paying taxes, theyre not violating the law, we dont have to provide social services to their families. It makes a difference.
Thanks to federal funding, the program soon will work with the Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas on a treatment program for opioid addiction.
CREITZ ALSO discussed concerns about funding for the judicial branch, which ranks next to last in the nation for salaries for district judges. The judiciary receives less than 1 percent of the states budget, or $136 million in 2017. About 94 percent of the judicial budget is used to pay salaries.
About a third of court employees have to work a second job, Creitz said. He compared an employees pay from 2010 to 2018 levels. Despite a pay increase, an employee who earned $14.389 an hour in 2010 and earned $15.044 in 2018 took home about $4,000 less at the end of the year because of increased health care costs and higher KPERS contributions.
This is a critical problem, Creitz said.
Because its difficult to get legislators to fix the problem, the 31st Judicial District and other courts have turned to using technology instead of people, which is not always the best course. Court reporters, for example, are more accurate in recording the actions of a trial, as opposed to an audio recording.
The 31st District requires electronic filing for nearly all cases, including search and arrest warrant requests.
Kansas courts also are looking at an eCourt system, which would allow employees to share work between judicial districts.
Other options include videoconferencing to reduce the need for inmates to travel to court and personnel studies to improve workload efficiencies.
