NCJ Number
238741
Date Published
November 2011
Length
38 pages
Annotation
This report presents data on offenders eligible for judicial diversion as a result of changes to the State's drug law concerning drug court screening and admissions.
Abstract
Major findings in this report include the following: since October 2009 when the State of New York changed its drug law concerning drug court screening and admissions, the number of screening increased 40 percent statewide, admissions to drug courts more than doubled, and the impact of changes to the law varied by region. In addition, screenings and admissions increased despite decreases in the number of felony drug arrests; statewide, 41 percent of offenders screened were admitted into drug court programs; 67 percent of judicial hearings conducted between October 2009 and the end of December 2010 resulted in the defendant being found eligible for drug court; and 81 percent of individuals admitted into drug court programs were not facing a mandatory prison sentence at arraignment. The evaluation also found that changes to the law affected other diversion programs. New York City's Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison programs saw fewer admissions following the 2009 changes while statewide other diversion programs were discontinued or replaced by drug court programs. Data for the report were obtained from two sources: drug court information stored in the Universal Treatment Application (UTA) maintained by the Office of Court Administrators (OCA) was matched with the Computerized Criminal History (CCH) data maintained by the State's Department of Criminal Justice Services. Tables, figures, and appendixes