District attorney aims to refill staff and relaunch drug court using provider-billing model
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Summary
The district attorney reported the office will reach funded staffing (12 deputy DAs) and outlined plans to restart drug treatment court by mid-January using a treatment provider (Emergence) that can bill for services; deflection and restorative justice pilots are also under way.
The district attorney told the board the office began the fiscal year with several vacancies but expected to be at its funded complement of 12 deputy district attorneys by the 20th of the month; one victim-advocate opening will still be advertised.
The DA outlined a plan to relaunch drug treatment court with a target start in January. The program currently lacks a grant to pay for treatment and urinalysis costs; the DA said they are pursuing treatment providers willing to bill for services rather than rely on a county-funded contract. The transcript identifies Emergence (a Lane County treatment provider) as the vendor under consideration and states Emergence has given a verbal yes; the office is preparing partner MOUs and a facility lease for the former drug-court site, Humphrey Hoare.
The DA described the policy shift the office is pursuing: historically a person who failed drug court could face mandatory minimum sanctions (for example, a six-month jail term in prior local practice); the office and defense partners are discussing tailoring consequences to the individual's charge and criminal history rather than a single strict model, aiming to increase program participation. The DA noted that findings from other counties show the model can operate without grant funding when treatment providers can bill for clients' services.
On deflection the DA said officers will hand cited individuals a business card with a QR code that allows people to share contact information with a deflection coordinator; the DA said training and improvements in officer engagement could increase referrals. On restorative justice the office has begun offering the option in some diversions; Scott Smith is the restorative justice practitioner who recently met with defense teams and the DA will meet with the defense consortium to answer legal questions about that program.
Next steps for the board and county staff include finalizing MOUs with partner agencies, executing the Humphrey Hoare lease and continuing outreach to potential providers and funders with the aim of bringing the drug-court program back into operation in January.