II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 3191

To create a Federal drug court program, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 12 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 22), 2000

Mr. TORRICELLI introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To create a Federal drug court program, and for other

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Drug Court Act of

5 2000’’.

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

7 In this Act:

8 (1) DRUG COURTS.—The term ‘‘drug courts’’

9 means a Federal district court of general jurisdiction

10 in a high drug crime district, as defined by the De11 partment of Justice, that will—
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1 (A) expedite the criminal justice process

2 for eligible offenders until such time as they are

3 declared ineligible or selected for inclusion in a

4 drug court program; and

5 (B) maintain jurisdiction over the offend6 ers’ cases before, during, and after participation

7 in the program.

8 (2) DRUG COURT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘drug

9 court program’’ means a program for substance

10 abuse treatment and rehabilitation for eligible of11 fenders that—

12 (A) requires a successful plea agreement

13 immediately following conviction or in lieu of in14 carceration; and

15 (B) is operated by a drug court in a State

16 criminal justice system that has agreed to ac17 cept, for a fee per offender, all offenders se18 lected for inclusion in such a program by a

19 Federal drug court.

20 (3) ELIGIBLE OFFENDER.—The term ‘‘eligible

21 offender’’ means a person who meets the require22 ments established in section 4 of this Act.

23 (4) OFFICE.—The term ‘‘Office’’ means the Of24 fice of Justice Programs of the Department of Jus25 tice.
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1 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF DRUG COURTS.

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF DRUG COURTS.—10 Federal

3 district courts in the United States, as selected by the Of4 fice, are authorized to establish drug courts under this

5 Act.

6 (b) DRUG COURT RESPONSIBILITIES.—Each Federal

7 drug court shall enter into an agreement with a State drug

8 court program that will allow all eligible offenders to par9 ticipate in the drug court program of that State, in ex10 change for the payment of a fee equal to the amount of

11 the cost of the program for that offender. Each such

12 agreement shall be subject to the approval of the Office.

13 (c) OVERSIGHT.—Except as specified in this Act,

14 rules governing drug courts will be promulgated separately

15 by each participating Federal district court, with the ad16 vice of the Office, and subject to Department of Justice

17 approval.

18 SEC. 4. ELIGIBLE OFFENDERS.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—An ‘‘eligible offender’’ means a

20 person who, by virtue of a Federal crime committed and

21 other factors that the drug court may consider, may be

22 considered for inclusion in the drug court program.

23 (b) PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS.—Drug court program

24 eligibility under this Act shall not be available to any of25 fender who—

26 (1) is accused of violent criminal offenses;
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1 (2) is not accused of drug, drug-related, or

2 drug-motivated offenses;

3 (3) has previously been convicted of a Federal

4 or State violent felony offense; or

5 (4) for any other reason within the discretion of

6 the court, does not meet all requirements of the ap7 plicable drug court.

8 (b) ADDITIONAL ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—In

9 addition to the criteria in subsection (a), no offender will

10 be considered eligible for participation in a drug court pro11 gram unless, following a reasonable investigation con12 ducted according to standards set by the court, and one

13 or more hearings before the court, consensus agreement

14 is achieved among the prosecutor, the defense counsel, and

15 the presiding judge, that the offender is a person who—

16 (1) currently suffers from a drug dependency;

17 (2) would benefit from the drug court program;

18 and

19 (3) is appropriate for inclusion in the drug

20 court program.

21 (c) INELIGIBLE OFFENDER HANDLING.—If at any

22 point before admission into the drug court program, an

23 offender is found ineligible for participation in a drug

24 court program under this Act, the case of that offender
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1 shall be processed by the Federal district court under the

2 applicable rules of procedure and sentencing.

3 (d) REQUIREMENTS FOR DRUG PROGRAM PARTICI4 PANTS.—Each eligible offender shall understand, sign,

5 and acknowledge understanding of drug court documents,

6 including—

7 (1) a waiver of the right of the offender to a

8 speedy trial;

9 (2) a written plea agreement that sets forth the

10 offense charged, the sanction to be imposed in the

11 event of a breach of the agreement, and the penalty

12 to be imposed, if any, in the event of a successful

13 completion of the drug court program, except that

14 incarceration may not be imposed upon successful

15 completion of the program;

16 (3) a written treatment plan that is subject to

17 modification at any time during the drug court pro18 gram;

19 (4) a written performance contract requiring

20 the offender to enter the drug court program as di21 rected by the court and participate until completion,

22 withdrawal, or removal by the court; and

23 (5) a limited applicability waiver of confiden24 tiality for information relating to the treatment pro25 gram of the offender, and progress in that program,
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1 limited only to agencies and parties participating in

2 the drug court program, and agencies and parties

3 participating in oversight of the case of the offender

4 by the drug court.

5 SEC. 5. DRUG COURT OPERATIONS.

6 (a) IDENTIFICATION OF DRUG PROGRAM PARTICI7 PANTS.—The Office of the United States Attorney office

8 in a Federal drug court, through the Office, shall establish

9 procedures for the identification of eligible offenders not

10 later than 30 days after the date of arrest of the alleged

11 offender.

12 (b) PARTICIPANT FITNESS EXAMINATION.—A

13 United States Attorney, defense counsel, and a treatment

14 professional affiliated with the drug court program in

15 which the offender would be placed, shall separately con16 duct investigations regarding the eligibility of an offender

17 for inclusion in the drug court program. Upon a finding

18 by any of the examining parties that the offender is ineli19 gible to participate in the drug court program, the alleged

20 offender shall be subject to prosecution under the applica21 ble rules of procedure and sentencing.

22 (c) HEARING.—Upon agreement of the prosecutor,

23 defense counsel, and treatment professional that an of24 fender is eligible for the drug court program, the pros25 ecutor, defense counsel, treatment professional, and of-
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1 fender shall appear for a hearing before a drug court

2 judge, who shall receive testimony from each of the exam3 ining parties.

4 (d) JUDICIAL DISCRETION.—Upon a finding by the

5 judge that the offender is eligible for inclusion in the drug

6 court program, the judge shall obtain from the offender

7 all appropriate drug court documents, and the offender

8 shall immediately be removed to the custody of the drug

9 treatment program. Should the offender not agree to any

10 of the conditions of participation in the drug court pro11 gram, the offender shall be subject to prosecution under

12 the applicable rules of procedure and sentencing.

13 (e) DRUG COURT RESPONSIBILITIES.—The drug

14 court shall—

15 (1) assign to the drug court program responsi16 bility over all treatment, supervision, education, job

17 skills training, and other ancillary services incidental

18 to the program;

19 (2) hold regular hearings, attended by the

20 judge, prosecutor, defense counsel, and treatment

21 professional to assess the progress of the offender

22 within the drug court program; and

23 (3) assess any and all disciplinary sanctions,

24 penalties, and fines resulting from a violation by the

25 offender of the drug court program plea agreement.
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1 (f) DISCIPLINARY SANCTIONS.—The drug court shall

2 establish methods for measuring application of discipli3 nary sanctions, which may include—

4 (1) short term confinement;

5 (2) reintroducing the offender into the drug

6 court program after a disciplinary action for a minor

7 violation of the treatment plan; and

8 (3) removal from the drug court program and

9 reinstatement of the criminal case.

10 (g) DRUG COURT RECORDS.—All drug courts shall

11 maintain records regarding rates of recidivism, relapses,

12 restarts, sanctions imposed, and incentives given. All such

13 data shall be collected and reported annually by the Office.

14 (h) ADMINISTRATIVE FEES.—For each offender ad15 mitted to the drug court program, the drug court shall

16 pay to the drug court program an amount agreed upon

17 at the outset of the relationship between the drug court

18 and drug court program. This amount shall represent pay19 ment for the cost of treatment, supervision, rehabilitation,

20 education, job skills training, and other ancillary services

21 that the program of the offender shall require.

22 SEC. 6. DRUG COURT PROGRAM PARTICIPANT SUPPORT.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each drug court program shall

24 provide all participating offenders with a personalized pro25 gram, including elements of treatment, supervision, reha-
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1 bilitation, education, and job skills training, and other an2 cillary services that the program of the offender shall re3 quire.

4 (b) PARTICIPANT DEVELOPMENT.—Each drug court

5 program shall ensure, at a minimum—

6 (1) strong linkage between all agencies partici7 pating in the drug court program, and the drug

8 court judge, prosecutor, and defense counsel respon9 sible for oversight of the case;

10 (2) access for all participating agencies to infor11 mation on the progress of the offender within the

12 program, notwithstanding normally confidential

13 treatment and counseling information;

14 (3) vigilant supervision and monitoring proce15 dures;

16 (4) random substance abuse testing not less

17 frequently than weekly;

18 (5) provisions for noncompliance, modification

19 of the treatment plan, and revocation proceedings;

20 (6) availability of residential treatment facilities

21 and outpatient services; and

22 (7) methods for measuring performance-based

23 effectiveness of the services of individual treatment

24 providers.
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1 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

2 Subject to an appropriations Act, there is authorized

3 to be appropriated for each of fiscal years 2000 through

4 2004, the following amounts:

5 (1) $15,000,000, to the Office, to carry out a

6 pilot program to establish a Federal drug court in

7 each of 10 cities in the United States that are statis8 tically considered high drug crime areas.

9 (2) $5,000,000 to the Department of Justice,

10 for additional prosecutorial resources, including per11 sonnel, dedicated to drug enforcement in each of the

12 10 cities in which a Federal drug court is estab13 lished under this Act.

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