Opinion ID: 1822718
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Court Ordered Drug Treatment

Text: There are three avenues in which the trial court may order a probationer to complete a drug treatment program: (1) as a special condition of ordinary probation; (2) as a condition of drug offender probation under section 948.20, Florida Statutes (2005); or (3) as part of a treatment based drug court program under section 397.334, Florida Statutes (2005). Although the conflict cases at issue here only involve drug treatment programs as outlined in (1) and (2) above, a review of the statutes authorizing drug offender probation and the use of drug courts indicates the level of flexibility that is necessary in dealing with probationers with substance abuse problems. Chapter 948, Florida Statutes (2005), offers a detailed statutory approach to Probation and Community Control. Within this chapter, the Legislature created a specific scheme to address defendants who are chronic substance abusers, by authorizing trial courts to stay and withhold the imposition of sentence and place the defendant on drug offender probation. § 948.20, Fla. Stat. Indeed, in Jones v. State, 813 So.2d 22 (Fla.2002), we reiterated that treatment and intensive surveillance, rather than incarceration, is available to defendants who qualify [for drug offender probation] based on the nonviolent nature of the crime . . . and their status as chronic substance abusers. Id. at 24. As defined by statute, drug offender probation is a form of intensive supervision which emphasizes treatment of drug offenders in accordance with individualized treatment plans. § 948.001(4), Fla. Stat. (2005). This is mirrored in section 948.20, which mandates that the Department of Corrections develop and administer a drug offender probation program which emphasizes a combination of treatment and intensive community supervision approaches and which includes provision for supervision of offenders in accordance with a specific treatment plan. The program may include the use of graduated sanctions consistent with the conditions imposed by the court. Drug offender probation status shall include surveillance and random drug testing, and may include those measures normally associated with community control, except that specific treatment conditions and other treatment approaches necessary to monitor this population may be ordered. § 948.20(1), Fla. Stat. (2005). Additionally, the Legislature authorized the creation of treatment-based drug court programs. § 397.334, Fla. Stat. (2005). As with drug offender probation, the focus of the drug court program is to appropriately address the severity of the identified substance abuse problem through treatment plans tailored to the individual needs of the participant. § 397.334(1), Fla. Stat. (2005). Furthermore, the Legislature mandated that the drug court programs comport with therapeutic jurisprudence principles, § 397.334(2), Fla. Stat. (2005), adhering to ten key components, including the importance of [o]ngoing judicial interaction with each drug court program participant. § 397.334(2)(g), Fla. Stat. (2005). Based on these statutory provisions, the Legislature's concern with court-ordered drug treatment programs, whether it is drug offender probation or the treatment-based drug court program, is clearrehabilitation pursuant to an individualized treatment plan. Thus, the Legislature has determined that rehabilitating drug offenders should be the primary focus and such a goal is achieved through individualized treatment plans that are specifically tailored to each probationer. And although these statutory provisions relate only to drug offender probation and the drug court program, these discretionary principles are equally applicable if the drug treatment program is a special condition of a standard probation order. Accordingly, because the circumstances of treating each substance abuse problem are unique to that individual, trial courts must be able to operate with an element of flexibility regardless of whether completion of a drug treatment program is required through a standard probation order, as part of drug offender probation, or through the treatment-based drug court program.