(a) A drug court shall collect and maintain the following information for each drug offender that is considered for admission or admitted into drug court:
(1) Prior criminal history.
(2) Prior substance abuse treatment history, including information on the success or failure of the drug offender in those programs.
(3) Employment, education, and income histories.
(4) Gender, race, ethnicity, marital and family status, and any child custody and support obligations.
(5)a. Instances of recidivism occurring after successful completion of drug court. Recidivism shall be measured at a period of three years after successful graduation.
b. Instances of recidivism occurring after a drug offender's termination in drug court for a period of three years from release into the community.
(6) The drug of choice and the estimated daily financial cost to the drug offender at the time of entry into the program.
(7) The number of drug offenders screened for eligibility, the number of eligible drug offenders who were and were not admitted into drug court, the reasons for non-admission for those drug offenders not admitted into drug court, and the case disposition for each drug offender admitted into drug court.
(8) The cost of operation and sources of funding for each drug court.
(b) A drug offender subject to this chapter may be required, as a condition of pretrial release, probation, diversion, parole, or community corrections to provide the information in subsection (a). The collection and maintenance of this information shall be collected in a standardized format according to applicable guidelines.
(c) To protect the privacy of a drug offender in accordance with federal and state confidentiality laws, treatment records shall be kept in a secure environment, separated from the court records to which the public has access.
(d) All drug court personnel shall be trained in accordance with subsection (d) of Section 12-23A-9.
(e) Evaluations shall be conducted in accordance with subsection (a).
(f) The drug offender shall be responsible for all fees, court costs, and restitution associated with the terms of release of the offender, supervision, treatment, and successful completion in drug court, unless the offender is determined to be indigent, in which event such fees may be waived in whole or in part. Determination of indigency shall be subject to continuing review by the court. All such fees, which do not include regular court costs normally collected by the clerk of court, shall be collected and accounted for by the drug court or other entity designated by the drug court team, in accordance with generally accepted uniform accounting principles, which shall be subject to approval by the Chief Examiner of the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts. Drug courts shall establish and maintain a uniform accounting system.
(g) The annual reports and all records of accounts and financial records of all funds received from fees or by grant, contract, or otherwise from state, local, or federal sources, shall be subject to audit annually by the Chief Examiner of the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts. The audit may be performed by a licensed independent certified public accountant approved by the Chief Examiner of the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts.
(h) All audits shall be completed as soon as practicable after the end of the fiscal year. One copy of each audit shall be furnished to the presiding circuit judge, the district attorney, the Administrative Director of Courts, and the Chief Examiner of the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts. Copies of each audit shall also be made available to the press.
Last modified: May 3, 2021