Arkansas Code of 1987 (2023) › Title 16 - PRACTICE, PROCEDURE, AND COURTS (§§ 16-1-101 — 16-131-206) › Subtitle 6 - CRIMINAL PROCEDURE GENERALLY (§§ 16-80-101 — 16-102-102) › Chapter 98 - TREATMENT FOR DRUG ABUSE (§§ 16-98-201 — 16-98-307) › Subchapter 3 - ARKANSAS DRUG COURT ACT (§§ 16-98-301 — 16-98-307) › Section 16-98-303 - Drug court programs authorized

(a)
(1)
Each judicial district of this state is authorized to establish a drug court program under this subchapter.
(2)
A drug court established under this subchapter shall be approved under §
16-10-139
.
(3)
(A)
A drug court program may be preadjudication or post-adjudication for an adult offender or a juvenile offender.
(B)
A juvenile drug court program or services may be used in a delinquency case or a family in need of services case.
(C)
A juvenile drug court program or services may be used in a dependency-neglect case under §
9-27-334
.
(4)
Notwithstanding the authorization described in subdivision (a)(1) of this section, a judge of a circuit court, drug court, or juvenile division of circuit court may not order any services or treatment under subsection (b) of this section or §
16-98-305
unless:
(A)
An administrative and programmatic appropriation has been made for those purposes;
(B)
Administrative and programmatic funding is available for those purposes; and
(C)
Administrative and programmatic positions have been authorized for those purposes.
(5)
As determined by the Division of Community Correction, an adult drug court program established under this section shall target high-risk offenders and medium-risk offenders.
(b)
(1)
A drug court program shall incorporate services from the Division of Community Correction, the Department of Human Services, and the Administrative Office of the Courts.
(2)
Subject to an appropriation, funding, and position authorization, both programmatic and administrative, and subject to the requirements of eligibility as defined in §
16-93-1202
, the Division of Community Correction:
(A)
Shall:
(i)
Establish standards regarding the classification of a drug court program participant as a high-risk offender or medium-risk offender;
(ii)
Provide positions for persons to serve as probation officers, drug counselors, and administrative assistants;
(iii)
Provide for drug testing for drug court program participants;
(iv)
Provide for intensive outpatient treatment for drug court program participants;
(v)
Provide for intensive short-term and long-term residential treatment for drug court program participants; and
(vi)
Develop clinical assessment capacity, including drug testing, to identify a drug court program participant with a substance addiction and develop a treatment protocol that improves the drug court program participant's likelihood of success; and
(B)
May:
(i)
Provide for continuous alcohol monitoring for drug court program participants, including a minimum period of one hundred twenty (120) days; and
(ii)
Develop clinical assessment capacity, including continuous alcohol monitoring, to identify a drug court program participant with a substance addiction and develop a treatment protocol that improves the drug court program participant's likelihood of success.
(3)
Subject to an appropriation, funding, and position authorization, both programmatic and administrative, the department shall:
(A)
Provide positions for persons to serve as drug counselors and administrative assistants in delinquency cases, dependency-neglect cases, and family in need of services cases;
(B)
Provide for drug testing for drug court program participants in delinquency cases, dependency-neglect cases, and family in need of services cases;
(C)
Provide for intensive outpatient treatment for drug court program participants in delinquency cases, dependency-neglect cases, and family in need of services cases;
(D)
Provide for intensive short-term and long-term residential treatment for drug court program participants in delinquency cases, dependency-neglect cases, and family in need of services cases;
(E)
Certify and license treatment providers and treatment facilities that serve drug court program participants;
(F)
Provide and oversee residential beds for drug court programs;
(G)
Oversee catchment area facilities for drug court programs;
(H)
Act as a liaison between the courts and drug court program participants; and
(I)
Oversee performance standards for residential and long-term facilities providing services to drug court programs.
(4)
Subject to an appropriation, funding, and position authorization, both programmatic and administrative, the Administrative Office of the Courts shall:
(A)
Provide state-level coordination and support for drug court judges and their programs;
(B)
Administer funds for the maintenance and operation of local approved drug court programs;
(C)
Provide training and education to drug court judges and other professionals involved in drug court programs;
(D)
Operate as a liaison between drug court judges and other state-level agencies providing services to drug court programs; and
(E)
Develop criteria for determining new drug court locations that take into account:
(i)
The current size of the defendant population that meets the criteria for drug court participation;
(ii)
Recent trends indicating an increasing defendant population that meets the criteria for drug court participation;
(iii)
Existing drug treatment programs currently in place and operating through the courts, the county jail, or the Division of Correction; and
(iv)
The drug court program's use of evidence-based practices by key partners involved in the prospective drug court including those to assess the needs of drug court participants in order to effectively target programming toward high-risk participants.
(c)
(1)
A drug court program shall not be available to any defendant who:
(A)
Has a pending charge for a violent felony against him or her;
(B)
Has been convicted of a violent felony offense as defined in this subchapter or adjudicated delinquent as a juvenile of a violent felony offense; or
(C)
(i)
Is required to register under the Sex Offender Registration Act of 1997, §
12-12-901
et seq.
(ii)
The exclusion under subdivision (c)(1)(C)(i) of this section shall not apply to the offense of prostitution, §
5-70-102
.
(2)
Eligible offenses may be further restricted by the rules of a specific drug court program.
(3)
Nothing in this subchapter shall require a drug court judge to consider or accept every offender with a treatable condition or addiction, regardless of the fact that the controlling offense is eligible for consideration in the drug court program.
(4)
Any defendant who is denied entry to a drug court program shall be prosecuted as provided by law.
(d)
(1)
Drug court programs may require a separate judicial processing system differing in practice and design from the traditional adversarial criminal prosecution and trial systems.
(2)
A drug court team shall be designated by a circuit judge assigned to manage the drug court docket and may include a circuit judge, a prosecuting attorney, a public defender or private defense attorney, one (1) or more addiction counselors, one (1) or more probation officers, one (1) or more private treatment provider representatives, and any other individual or individuals determined necessary by the drug court judge.
(3)
(A)
The administrative judge of the judicial district shall designate one (1) or more circuit judges to administer the drug court program.
(B)
If a county is in a judicial district that does not have a circuit judge who is able to administer the drug court program on a consistent basis, the administrative plan for the judicial circuit required by Supreme Court Administrative Order No. 14 may designate a district court judge to administer the drug court program.
(e)
Each judicial district may develop a training and implementation manual for drug court programs with the assistance of the:
(1)
Department;
(2)
Division of Elementary and Secondary Education;
(3)
Adult Education Section;
(4)
Division of Community Correction; and
(5)
Administrative Office of the Courts.
(f)
A Division of Drug Court Programs is created within the Administrative Office of the Courts. The position of Drug Court Coordinator is created within the Division of Drug Court Programs, and the Drug Court Coordinator shall:
(1)
Provide assistance, counsel, and advice to the Specialty Court Program Advisory Committee;
(2)
Serve as a coordinator between drug court judges, the Division of Community Correction, the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services of the Department of Human Services, private treatment provider representatives, and public health advocates;
(3)
Establish, manage, and maintain a uniform statewide drug court information system to track information and data on drug court program participants to be reviewed by the Specialty Court Program Advisory Committee;
(4)
Train and educate drug court judges and drug court staff in those judicial districts maintaining a drug court program;
(5)
Provide staff assistance to the Arkansas Drug Court Professionals Association;
(6)
Oversee the disbursement of funds appropriated to the Administrative Office of the Courts for the maintenance and operation of local approved drug court programs based on a formula developed by the Administrative Office of the Courts and reviewed by the Specialty Court Program Advisory Committee; and
(7)
Develop guidelines to be reviewed by the Specialty Court Program Advisory Committee to serve as a framework for developing effective local drug court programs and to provide a structure for conducting research and evaluation for drug court program accountability.
(g)
(1)
A drug court program judge, on his or her own motion or upon a request from an offender, may order dismissal of a case and the sealing of the record if:
(A)
The offender has successfully completed a drug court program, as determined by the drug court program judge;
(B)
The offender has received aftercare programming;
(C)
The drug court program judge has received a recommendation from the prosecuting attorney for dismissal of the case and the sealing of the record; and
(D)
The drug court program judge, after considering the offender's past criminal history, determines that dismissal of the case and the sealing of the record are appropriate.
(2)
(A)
Except as provided in subdivision (g)(2)(B) of this section, if the offender has pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to or has been found guilty of an offense falling within a target group under §
16-93-1202(10)(A)(i)
in another Arkansas court, the drug court program judge may order sealing and dismissal of the offense falling within a target group with the written concurrence of the other Arkansas court.
(B)
The following offenses are not eligible for sealing under subdivision (g)(2)(A) of this section:
(i)
Residential burglary, §
5-39-201(a)
;
(ii)
Commercial burglary, §
5-39-201(b)
;
(iii)
Breaking or entering, §
5-39-202
; and
(iv)
The fourth and subsequent offense of driving while intoxicated, §
5-65-103
.
(3)
Unless otherwise ordered by the drug court program judge, sealing under this subsection shall be as described in the Comprehensive Criminal Record Sealing Act of 2013, §
16-90-1401
et seq.
Amended by Act 2019, No. 910,§ 952, eff. 7/1/2019.
Amended by Act 2019, No. 910,§ 951, eff. 7/1/2019.
Amended by Act 2019, No. 910,§ 950, eff. 7/1/2019.
Amended by Act 2019, No. 910,§ 949, eff. 7/1/2019.
Amended by Act 2019, No. 910,§ 948, eff. 7/1/2019.
Amended by Act 2017, No. 913,§ 45, eff. 8/1/2017.
Amended by Act 2017, No. 423,§ 27, eff. 8/1/2017.
Amended by Act 2015, No. 895,§ 35, eff. 4/1/2015.
Amended by Act 2015, No. 895,§ 34, eff. 4/1/2015.
Amended by Act 2015, No. 895,§ 33, eff. 4/1/2015.
Amended by Act 2015, No. 895,§ 32, eff. 4/1/2015.
Amended by Act 2013, No. 1460,§ 16, eff. 1/1/2014.
Amended by Act 2013, No. 1107,§ 15, eff. 8/16/2013.
Acts 2003, No. 1266, § 3; 2007, No. 1022, § 4; 2009, No. 1491, § 2; 2011, No. 570, §§ 113-115; 2011, No. 1137, § 3.