Removal of Bootheel drug courts opposed by legislators

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- State Reps. Tom Todd and Steve Hodges on Thursday voted against legislation that would strip the Bootheel of two drug court commissioners and relocate those positions to other parts of the state. However, the bill passed the House of Representatives on a 94-63 vote.

A 1998 law first established drug courts in Missouri as an alternative to the traditional adjudication of non-violent drug-related crimes. Drug courts are designed to assist defendants in kicking their addictions in order to become productive citizens. Bootheel counties were among the first in the state to implement drug courts.

"Drug courts have proven highly successful in rehabilitating offenders and setting them on the straight and narrow path," said Hodges, D-East Prairie. "Removing our drug court commissioners will severely hurt efforts to combat the Bootheel's drug problem.

Steve Hodges

House Bill 187 would convert all existing drug court commissioners into associate circuit court judges. However, it would relocate five of those positions from their current judicial circuits to circuits in other parts of the state, primarily in Southwest Missouri.

The drug court commissioners in the 33rd Circuit, which covers Mississippi and Scott counties, and the 35th Circuit, which covers Dunklin and Stoddard counties, are among those that would be relocated under the bill. The 35th Circuit drug court was the first established in rural Missouri.

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