JUDGE'S MESSAGE: DO METH, PAY THE PRICE

The efforts of law-enforcement agencies, prosecutors and courts to get the upper hand on methamphetamine production and distribution in Southeast Missouri has seemed like a lost cause far too often. State and federal dollars have flowed into Missouri, which continues to be ranked as one of the top meth-producing states in the nation.

Meth is a highly addictive chemical concoction best known for its ability to be produced from items that are readily available, even if it means breaking into some farmer's anhydrous ammonia tank. The tanks are everywhere, and they are usually in remote areas where thieves can do their dirty work virtually unnoticed.

In spite of drug busts, arrests, prosecutions and prison sentences, judges tend to see the same faces again and again in meth cases. Why? One Stoddard County judge believes it's because individuals charged with meth-related crimes get off too easily when it comes to setting bonds.

So Associate Circuit Judge Joe Satterfield has come up with a different approach: He sets high bonds for alleged meth offenders. And he requires cash up front.

How high is the bond? It can range from $25,000 to $200,000 in Satterfield's court -- a figure that can be as much as 100 times higher than his colleagues in other judicial circuits in Southeast Missouri.

But here's the best part:

It appears Judge Satterfield's reputation for setting high bonds in meth cases is sending a message to the operators of meth labs. And that message is that it's not a good financial risk to get caught doing meth in Stoddard County.

Satterfield points to a reduction in the number of meth cases in Stoddard County -- a trend also matched in Bollinger County, where lower bonds are usually set for meth cases -- while the statistics for meth labs are going up in most parts of the state.

In Stoddard County, the average jail population has been reduced to 30 inmates from 60 five years ago. That's impressive.

Of course, some meth fighters might be worried that Stoddard County's high bonds in meth cases might simply be driving the druggies to other nearby counties where judges set lower bonds. It seems like a simple remedy, if that's occurring, would be for all judges to send the same message: Don't do drugs in my county.