By Thompson H.C.R. No. 133 77R5656 MTD-D HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, Drug-related offenses in the United States increased 1-2 by 7.2 percent in 1997 and 11.1 percent in 1998, and Texas, like 1-3 the rest of the nation, is experiencing an escalation in substance 1-4 abuse violations; and 1-5 WHEREAS, Currently, Texas has approximately 150,000 people 1-6 incarcerated in the criminal justice system, and 21 percent of 1-7 those inmates are imprisoned on drug-related offenses; and 1-8 WHEREAS, Research shows that incarceration alone does little 1-9 to break the cycle of illegal drug use and crime, that offenders 1-10 incarcerated for substance-related offenses exhibit a high rate of 1-11 recidivism once they are released, and that drug abuse treatment is 1-12 more effective in reducing both drug addiction and drug-related 1-13 crime; and 1-14 WHEREAS, One prison diversion program that provides an 1-15 alternative to traditional criminal justice prosecution for 1-16 drug-related offenses is the use of drug courts, which offer a 1-17 treatment-based alternative combined with judicially supervised 1-18 sanctions; and 1-19 WHEREAS, The goals of drug courts are to reduce the 1-20 recidivism of drug-related offenses and to create options within 1-21 the criminal justice system to tailor effective and appropriate 1-22 responses to offenders with drug problems; and 1-23 WHEREAS, Although drug courts differ in nature, structure, 1-24 and jurisdiction, they have certain key elements in common, such as 2-1 judicial supervision, treatment, rehabilitation, frequent drug 2-2 testing, incentives, sanctions, and case management; and 2-3 WHEREAS, Texas currently has four drug courts that have 2-4 developed substance abuse treatment programs with extensive 2-5 judicial oversight to divert several hundred nonviolent offenders 2-6 from incarceration within the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; 2-7 and 2-8 WHEREAS, Like most court functions in Texas, the 2-9 responsibility for funding the drug courts rests with the county 2-10 governments, which use funding that is typically from a variety of 2-11 sources, including private, nonprofit, federal, and local grants 2-12 and funds shifted from parole, probation, and pretrial services; 2-13 and 2-14 WHEREAS, While drug courts are more expensive to operate than 2-15 traditional criminal courts, they are considerably less expensive 2-16 than imprisonment, and one fully funded drug court can save the 2-17 state 50 percent of the cost of incarceration; and 2-18 WHEREAS, Because drug courts in Texas receive no state 2-19 general revenue funds, the expansion of these programs will be 2-20 severely limited without a state funding mechanism to support their 2-21 continued operation; now, therefore, be it 2-22 RESOLVED, That the 77th Legislature of the State of Texas 2-23 hereby request the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the house 2-24 of representatives to create a joint interim committee to study 2-25 state funding mechanisms for the operation of drug courts; and, be 2-26 it further 2-27 RESOLVED, That the committee's proceedings and operations be 3-1 governed by such general rules and policies for joint interim 3-2 committees as the 77th Legislature may adopt and that such rules 3-3 and policies supersede the provisions of this resolution to the 3-4 extent of any conflict; and, be it further 3-5 RESOLVED, That the committee submit a full report, including 3-6 findings and recommendations, to the 78th Texas Legislature when it 3-7 convenes in January 2003.