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.