Drug law "fix" costing Longview millions

City starting "therapeutic" drug court in hopes of reducing cost of jailing hundreds of misdemeanor drug offenders

The City of Longview will launch a pilot drug and “therapeutic” court next month in an attempt to curb law enforcement costs that are tripling due to the state’s decision to decriminalize drug possession.

The city is starting the project in hopes that the county’s other cities join later. But  it will not get help from the Cowlitz County commissioners, who have become stubborn opponents to drug court despite apparent universal support for them from the local law and justice community..  

City Manger Kris Swanson projects a $1 million increase next year in the city’s costs for prosecuting, defending and jailing misdemeanor drug offenders.

Possession of hard drugs was a felony until the Legislature last spring adopted its so-called “Blake Fix,” a state Supreme Court decision that declared the state’s drug possession laws unconstitutional.

The Legislature downgraded drug possession from a felony to a gross misdemeanor, which caused a cost shift from the state and counties to cities, Swanson noted in an interview last week. 

This is because the state and counties pay for prosecuting, defending and jailing felons, but cities pay for misdemeanor offenders. So cities’ costs are rising because drug offenders formerly charged with felonies now face misdemeanor charges instead.  (Dealing drugs still is a felony.)

Longview handled 179 drug misdemeanor cases in the July -September quarter that formerly would have been charged as felonies in Cowlitz Superior Court, Swanson said.

It costs the city an average of about $700 to prosecute and jail a misdemeanor drug offender for just one day, taking into consideration per diem jail fees ($95.80),  court and police recording fees, and the expense for prosecution and defense lawyers,  Swanson said. 

Just a single offender sentenced to 30 days in jail costs the city nearly $3,000 in incarceration costs alone.

From January to June, the city averaged $57,240 in monthly expenses for jail fees.  After the “Blake fix” became law on July 1, those expenses rose to $110,000 for July, $131,000 for August,  $150,000 for September and  $159,000 for October.  Swanson said she’s had to budget an extra $1 million for next year to pay the new burden of misdemeanor drug cases.  

In addition to driving up costs, the added caseload has maxed out the city’s four-lawyer public defender staff.  Under court rulings, each public defender can’t take more than 400 cases a year. 

Swanson said the city needs to hire another public defender, and she learned Thursday the city will get $300,000 in state money to defray defense costs related to the Blake fix. But for a host of reasons rural communities are having difficulty hiring lawyers. (Look for a story about this next month).

Kelso’s costs for prosecuting and jailing offenders also have risen, although not nearly as sharply as Longview’s, said Kelso City Manager Andrew Hamilton. Kelso is looking to  join Longview’s effort, Hamilton said.

Jail and justice costs are rising across many cities in the state as a result of the Blake fix, said Lindsey Hueer, a staff member for the Association of Washington Cities. However, the experience varies by the size of a community’s drug problem and whether they use alternatives to incarceration, she said.

Gov. Jay Inslee’s proposed 2024 supplemental budget asks for more money for treatment of drug  addiction and other behavioral problems. However,  the Legislature, which convenes for a 60-day session in January,  has not and is not expected to award cities more money for rising jail costs, Hueer said.

Longview’s new drug /therapeutic court will operate in Cowlitz District Court separately from the 25-year old drug court connected with Cowlitz Superior Court, in which 94 felony-level defendants currently are enrolled (about the maximum it is staffed to handle).  However, Longview’s court it will work on the same basis: Eligible offenders can agree to choose treatment and stay clean. If they do so, their charges are dismissed when they “graduate” from the 12-month program.

The idea is to treat drug addiction or mental health problems that are the root cause of criminal behavior. That’s why they typically are called “therapeutic” courts.  Officials report that more than more than 70% of drug court graduates do not reoffend within three years of graduation.

Cowlitz County District Court handles all misdemeanor cases in the county.  District Court Judge Jamie Imboden will preside. Swanson said the new court is the result of consultations with public defenders, the prosecutors, police, judges and court officials.

Longview  began developing its therapeutic court after Cowlitz County commissioners Rick Dahl  and Arne Mortensen declined to use county mental health tax revenues to hire a third drug court case manager. That hire would have been assigned to help handle the new load of misdemeanor drug cases in District Court.

“Only the City of Longview will start off with Therapeutic Court next month —  but with the hope/goal to find a way for other municipalities to join later,” Swanson said in an email.

The cost and funding are uncertain. No new staff is being hired, though the city would like to hire a case manager, Swanson said

Swanson and Hamilton said Kelso and Longview hope the court saves money that would otherwise be spent on incarceration. And they may use some of their Big Pharma payouts from the state’s opioid settlement. 

Although the county’s long-established drug court has a proven track record  of success,  there’s no certainty a district-court level drug court will work as well. Misdemeanor defendants generally face shorter sentences and fines than felons, and they may not have as much incentive to undergo treatment and quit, Swanson acknowledged.

“I do hope Therapeutic Court saves the city incarceration costs, but in addition to mitigating these expenses, we believe this program is the right thing to do,” Swanson said.

Longview is starting the pilot project as the future of the parent drug court program is in doubt. County Commissioners Tuesday said they would not renew the mental health tax that supports it and other behavioral health programs.

The tax will expire March 31. However, voters countywide will chime in through an advisory vote in November whether the tax should be reinstated. Drug court can continue for two years on $6 million reserves already collected.

For now, Longview’s experience shows that just locking people up makes no sense from either a financial or public health perspective.  Steering drug addicted people into treatment and out of jail cells saves tax money and human lives.