Terrebonne operates state’s first DWI court

In its battle against south Louisiana’s lax attitude toward alcohol use, the Terrebonne Parish District Attorney’s Office has established the DWI court.

The program, which is similar to the parish’s drug court, is designed for citizens charged with substance abuse or crimes that are driven by substance abuse addiction.

It is also the first of its kind in the state of Louisiana and is part of the anti-DWI campaign, “Don’t Be a Zero.”

DWI court came about through a grant written by the parish’s Drug Court Treatment Center. The State Highway Commission awarded the parish $85,000 to set up the new court, as well as to conduct the “Don’t Be a Zero” campaign.

The court is funded through a $25 weekly fee charged to the program’s participants.

The new program/court is focused on prevention and is intended for persons charged with their first or second DWI.

“We’re finding out that a great percentage of the people who are coming into DWI court are having problems with drugs,” said DWI Court Coordinator Danny Smith. “And we’re giving them treatment for drugs through our Drug Court Office and our Drug Court Treatment Center.”

The creators of the program have set 16 distinct goals for it.

Some include providing access to education and treatment, monitoring participants with frequent alcohol and drug testing and providing independent evaluation of the programs effectiveness. The program works in conjunction with the district attorney’s “Three Strike” program. As such, the D.A.’s Office is tasked with monitoring each of the program’s participants throughout their probationary period ordered by the court.

“It benefits everybody if we get these people into treatment,” Smith said.

The program uses blood alcohol ankle monitoring devices called, SCRAM (Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor), to monitor some of the courts participants, he explained.

The anklet can also come with a GPS component, allowing the court to “zone out” various areas in the parish – bar rooms and liquor stores, for example.

If someone wearing such an anklet enters into a zoned out area, a recorded message will warn him the area is off limits and the incident will be reported to his probation officer.

Judge John R. Walker will preside as the DWI court judge for this pilot program. Walker is a drug court judge and was familiar with the basic format of the probation and treatments courts.

He underwent extensive training to become a drug court judge and observed multiple cases in similar courts around the country.

“I always felt that the treatment option and the intensive supervision the drug court gives was worth exploring to try to help intervene in the lives of some of these people to put the pieces back together.” said Walker. “The DWI court was just an extension of that.”

The DWI court isn’t a program people necessarily for which people volunteer. Walker, for example, can assign someone to the DWI court as a condition of probation on a misdemeanor charge.

Walker explained the formation of the court arose from the need to address the problem of alcohol abuse in the parish.

“We have such a large problem with alcohol related fatalities, alcohol related crimes, domestic violence, things of that nature,” he said. “Public safety was the number one concern. Second is to try to have people realize what effect alcohol is playing on the lives of the people in this community.”

Walker roughly estimated about 90 percent of the arrests in the parish are alcohol and drug related. He said very few crimes aren’t alcohol or drug related.

The program is based off one used for the DUI court in Hall County, Georgia. Walker mentioned Orleans Parish was considering its own DWI court before Katrina.