With Frequent Testing and Constant Supervision, DWI Court Is No Picnic – Detroit Lakes Tribune

DETROIT LAKES — The White Earth DUI court and Becker County are working well together.

Only 3% of the 61 people who have joined the program since it began have been charged with drunk driving while in the program, said Lori Thompson, court administrator for the White Earth Tribal Court.

On August 20, she presented an update to the Becker County Council.

“It’s hard work being in this program,” she said. But when they graduate from DWI Court after 19 months of hard work, “they feel redeemed,” Thompson said. “They’ve learned the skills they need to stay sober, so that’s empowering.”

During this reporting quarter – April, May and June – eight people were registered with the Debt Court – seven men and one woman.

Participants appear before a drink-driving court every two weeks and are supervised and tested for alcohol and other substances at home, at work and during visits to a doctor’s office about twice a week, she said.

“Probation officers and the supervising officer continue to have direct contact that is random but ongoing, covering a large geographic area in Becker and Mahnomen counties and the White Earth Reservation,” she said.

The White Earth-Becker County DWI Court program has a 56% completion rate, she said. Of those enrolled in the program’s nine years, 24 did not complete the program — one died, four were transferred, two were transferred to the companion White Earth-Mahnomen County Drug Court, one was not accepted at trial and 19 were dismissed from the program, she said.

Of the 16 people currently in White Earth Drug Court in Becker County and Mahnomen County, 10 were there for DUI, six for DUI, 12 were men and four were women. A quarter of them are white, and the rest are Native American. The median age is 40, most are employed — only about 12 percent are unemployed — and 12 of the 16 are there for first-degree DUI. The other four received second-degree DUI convictions.

Most are stably housed, 38% have a driver’s license, and 10 have completed treatment, with three continuing with medication-assisted treatment (dosing) and three currently in intensive outpatient care. The average number of negative days this quarter is 393 days, with a range from 45 days to 743 days.

The overall recidivism rate for a new DUI charge among graduates of the White Earth-Becker County DUI Court program is 10%.

Bowe covers the Becker County Board and court system for the Tribune and also runs the opinion pages for the Tribune and Focus. As news editor for both newspapers, he is the point of contact for readers and the public: breaking or hard news tips, story ideas, questions and general opinions.