How do Wyoming Drug Courts Work?

Wyoming drug courts combine different strategies to help non-violent offenders with drug use problems overcome substance abuse and to reduce the chances of repeated offenses. The ultimate goal of drug courts is to improve public safety and public health. Drug courts offer treatment programs as sentencing alternatives to help non-violent substance abuse offenders overcome addiction and become productive members of society. Drug courts involve cooperation between prosecutors, judges, treatment providers, correction agencies, probation officers, and other relevant community resources.

Wyoming has four types of court-supervised treatment programs or drug courts. There are adult drug courts, juvenile drug courts, DUI courts, and tribal courts.

To be accepted into drug treatment programs, prospective participants must plead ‘guilty’ or ‘no contest’ to a non-violent charge. Attorneys involved in the case must agree to the participation. Participants will be evaluated and are required to sign a waiver that allows the court to enforce the program requirements. There are no trials or juries involved in drug courts.

Drug courts and drug treatment programs use a combination of sanctions, treatment incentives, random, compulsory testing, and aftercare to help substance-dependent offenders. In so doing, drug courts present a cost-effective way to sustainable recovery by reducing the chances of and costs associated with recidivism and the subsequent prison sentences.

Apart from substance abuse treatments, drug courts also address other participants’ basic needs, such as shelter, mental health services, referrals, education, probation supervision, counseling, and training. Drug courts are said to save double, and in some cases, three times the amount expended on the program. For every $1 spent on drug courts, local and state governments save up to $3 as drug court participants have a very high chance of staying away from repeat offenses.

Drug court programs are intensive and demanding, often lasting more than one year. Participants are subjected to sanctions and random drug tests to ensure compliance with program and court requirements. Participants who successfully complete the program may get reduced sentences, charge dismissal, or less severe penalties. As a result of participation in and completion of the program, participants are equipped with the necessary tools to navigate life.

The Wyoming Drug Court’s goals are to:

• Reduce the chances of repeat offenses during and after the program
• Monitor participants to ensure program completion
• Significantly reduce substance dependence issues among participants by making sure that participants achieve a 120-day sobriety stretch before graduation or program completion
• Rehabilitate participants through services such as treatment, drug testing, and probation supervision.

To achieve the set goals, Drug Court stakeholders, including judges, law enforcement, treatment providers, and other service providers, must communicate regularly.

The Court Supervised Treatment program works on a model with the following components:

• Introducing drug and alcohol treatment as alternatives to incarceration
• Employing a non-adversarial approach where the attorneys involved in the case focus on protecting the offender’s right to a fair trial and the public good.
• Early identification of participants, quick intervention, and speedy case processing.
• Access to treatments, counseling, and other rehabilitation services
• Frequent interaction between participants and the judiciary
• Cooperation between stakeholders in decision making and monitoring
• Frequent mandatory substance test to ensure compliance with program requirements
• Monitoring participants to ensure compliance with program requirements and evaluating the effectiveness of the program.

Apart from treatment providers, probation supervisors, counselors, and the judiciary, law enforcement agencies and agents are also important stakeholders in drug courts’ operation. Law enforcement agents work with other stakeholders to ensure the smooth daily running of the drug courts. Additionally, law enforcement agents are important for the early identification and referral of program participants and the enforcement of the program requirements. Since the community is an important part of drug court programs, law enforcement agents also serve as a link between the community and the judiciary, gathering information about program participants, the participants’ needs, and monitoring participants for compliance.

Drug court programs are beneficial in that the programs help to:

• Reduce costs associated with incarceration
• Reduce overcrowding in prisons
• Reduce the chances of repeated offenses and therefore, the crime rate
• Reduce insurance costs
• Rehabilitate non-violent drug or substance-dependent offenders by ending drug or substance-abuse habits and cycles.
• Provide offenders with skills necessary to become productive, tax-paying members of society

Participation in drug court programs is voluntary. For completion of the program to be deemed successful, participants must:

• Commit to and participate in the program for at least 12 months
• Complete the treatment programs ordered by the court
• Maintain sobriety for at least nine months
• Demonstrate a willingness to remain sober
• Abstain from any criminal activity
• Pay fines and fees as required by the court and contribute to program or treatment costs

Drug courts and treatment programs in Wyoming are located at the following addresses:

Albany Drug Court
525 Grand Avenue, Suite 304
Laramie, WY 82070
(307) 721–1850

Big Horn Basin Family Treatment Center
420 C St, Basin, WY 82410
PO Box 769
(307) 568–2390

Campbell County Adult Treatment Court
500 South Gillette Ave, Suite 2500
Gillette, WY 82716
(307) 687–6470

Campbell County Juvenile and Family Drug Court
500 South Gillette Ave, Suite B600
Gillette, WY 82716
(307) 682–0746

Fremont County Adult Court Assisted Treatment Program
450 North 2nd Street,
Room 150 Lander, WY 82520
(307) 332–1108

Fremont County Juvenile Treatment Court
450 North 2nd Street, Room 100
Lander, WY 82520
(307) 332–1084

Johnson County Court Supervised Alternative Treatment Program
500 W. Lott, Unit C
Buffalo, WY 82834
(307) 684–9076

Laramie County Drug and DUI Courts
309 W. 20th Street
Cheyenne, WY 82001
(307) 633–4530

Lincoln County Adult Probation Program
421 Jefferson #301
Afton, WY 83110
(307) 885–4945

Natrona County Court Supervised Treatment Program
500 South Wolcott, Suite 100
Casper, WY 82601
(307) 235–2000

Park County Drug Court
1044 Beck Ave. Cody, WY 82414
(307) 527–1800,
Powell: (307) 754–1800
Toll Free: 1 (800) 786–2844 ext. 1808
Fax: (307) 527–1806

Sheridan County Adult and Juvenile Drug Courts
41 West Whitney Street
Sheridan, WY 82801
(307) 674–2935

Sweetwater County Treatment Court
50140 C US Highway 191, Suite 216
Rock Springs, Wyoming 82901
(307) 922–5238

Teton County DUI-Drug Court
185 S Willow St,
PO Box 2906
Jackson, WY 83001
(307) 733–4775

Uinta County Adult Drug Court
Uinta County Circuit Court
225 9th Street
Evanston WY 82930
(307) 789–2471

Youth Drug and Alcohol Court
Evanston Municipal Court
1200 Main Street
Evanston WY 82930
(307) 783–6321

Sublette County Treatment Court
PO Box 2176
Pinedale, WY 82941