In Drug Court, What Happens if I Break the Rules? Will They Lock Me Up?

In Drug Court, What Happens if I Break the Rules? Will They Lock Me Up?

Drug Court is typically ordered instead of jail time or sometimes in order to shorten jail time. The goal of Drug Court is to offer guidance as you learn to live a clean and sober life. Once you have agreed to Drug Court and it has started, you are expected to comply with all of the rules or face punishment. Setbacks are not uncommon, and it is up to your Drug Court judge to decide how to handle them. There may impose more restrictions, including:

More jail time: Many Drug Court judges use progressing amounts of jail time as punishment for non-compliance with the rules. For example, if you fail one drug test you may be required to do a weekend in jail. If you fail a second test the judge might incarcerate it to a month. 

Lost levels: Drug Courts are often set up with levels that become less intensive as you move through the program. For example Level I requires you to attend nine AA or NA meetings per week and attend group counseling three times a week. Level II reduces the AA or NA meeting requirement to five a week and counseling to twice a week. Each successive level further reduces requirements. If you break the rules the judge might send you back to your previous program level or all the way back to the first level where you have to start over. This adds additional time to your completion of the program. 

Increased rules: If you think you have a lot of rules now, don't break them or you might have more. Depending on which rules you break and why, your judge could step up the pace. For instance, if you have been required to attend five Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meetings a week and you fail a drug test, you might be ordered to attend seven or more per week. 

You’re kicked out: While many Drug Court judges try to work with participants who make mistakes, some have a zero tolerance policy and will throw you out of Drug Court and send you to jail for your entire original sentence. 

Final Thoughts: Drug Court is designed as an alternative to incarceration. Most Drug Court judges are proud of the program and do not want you to fail. In addition they want to build statistics that show it works so the entities that fund it will continue to do so. They view your rule breaking as a liability to the program's continued success; therefore they might be harsh in handling your infractions. 

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