Volunteerism in the New STAR Drug Court

By DON ROGER

In September 2003, the district courts trying criminal cases in Harris County implemented the Harris County STAR Program pursuant to legislative mandate by establishing a specialized drug court designed to stop drug abuse by repeat drug offenders. The drug court, also known as the STAR Court, occupies a dedicated courtroom on the 14th floor of the Harris County Criminal Justice Center, and departs from the usual adversary system approach to criminal cases involving only determination of guilt and imposition of punishment. Instead, by recognizing that intensive, high-quality supervision and treatment programs for repeat drug abusers, among other things, are generally more cost-effective in the long run than mere incarceration, the drug court embraces a new non-adversarial approach to dealing with persons addicted to drugs, as reflected in the acronym STAR in the court’s name, short for “Success Through Addiction Recovery.”
As presently structured, the drug court operates on two separate dockets each week presided over by either Hon. Michael Wilkinson, Judge of the 179th District Court, or Hon. Caprice Cosper, Judge of the 339th District Court. Judge Wilkinson presides over the STAR 1 Docket on Monday afternoon. The STAR 1 Docket is designed primarily to serve repeat offenders who have previous involvement in long-term residential treatment programs. Judge Cosper presides over the STAR 2 Docket on Thursday afternoon. The STAR 2 docket is designed primarily to serve repeat offenders who have not been involved in long-term drug treatment programs.
Participation in the drug court program by eligible drug offenders is voluntary and contractual in nature. Each person accepted agrees to abide by the terms and conditions of the program and signs a written contract to that effect. The program is designed primarily to deal with repeat drug offenders, and eligibility is determined by a number of factors. Those “clients” accepted in the program must meet minimum criteria, including having a drug dependency and either having a pending felony drug charge or being on felony community supervision (commonly referred to as probation) or felony deferred adjudication community supervision for a drug charge. As a general rule, persons charged with or previously convicted for certain crimes, including crimes of violence, crimes involving firearms, burglary of a habitation, sex offenses and certain designated controlled substance act offenses, and persons who have serious and persistent mental illness, are not eligible for participation in the program.
All clients accepted in the program are thoroughly screened. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office has the final say as to which persons are accepted in the program. While participating in the program, clients are placed on felony deferred adjudication community supervision unless they are already on felony community supervision. Minimum participation time in the program is anticipated to be 12 months and the average completion time for graduation from the program is anticipated to be 14 to 18 months.
In the drug court, while the ultimate decision-making responsibility lies with the judge, the role undertaken by the judge is for the most part supportive in nature and not necessarily that of an impartial referee. The drug court utilizes a non-adversarial team that attempts to address the unique needs of each client.
Depending on docket, the teams as presently constituted ordinarily and regularly consist of (1) the judge, either Judge Wilkinson (STAR 1 Docket) or Judge Cosper (STAR 2 Docket); (2) the program manager and coordinator, Mary Covington (both dockets); (3) the prosecutor, Kevin Keating, an assistant district attorney assigned to the appellate division of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office who was selected to be the first designated drug court prosecutor (both dockets); (4) a contract defense lawyer, either Kyle Johnson (STAR 1 Docket) or Ron Nicholas (STAR 2 Docket); (5) a probation officer from the Harris County Community Corrections and Supervision Department, either Delia Canamar (STAR 1 Docket) or Rita Cortez (STAR 2 Docket); and (6) a liaison officer with the Harris County Community Corrections and Supervision Department, Don Koontz, who is an expert on drug treatment programs (both dockets). Other persons may work with the teams as needed on occasion.
Each team ordinarily decides on and implements individualized supervision and treatment for each client. In that regard, the team may utilize the services of local drug treatment facilities, social services, health care providers, and many others to try to tailor a course of action suitable to the needs of each client in the hopes of addressing and solving the many issues or problems that may underlie the particular client’s drug dependence or addiction. The team also provides each client with a series of incentives or sanctions as needed, depending on the circumstances, that are approved by the judge and designed to ensure both the client’s successful completion of the program and the permanent cessation of the client’s drug dependence or addiction. The team’s supervision of each client is the most intensive type of individualized supervision that can be imposed short of incarceration.
It is significant that Judge Wilkinson, Judge Cosper and prosecutor Kevin Keating are all volunteers in the STAR Program. They carry out their respective roles, duties and responsibilities with the drug court in addition to those required by their regular jobs. They get no extra compensation or benefits for their work in connection with the drug court.
The Harris County STAR Program is in great need of financial and other assistance from the community to enable the drug court to continue to carry out its important mission. Persons or firms interested in either learning more about the STAR Program and the drug court or volunteering financial or other assistance should contact Mary Covington at (713) 755-4610.

Don Rogers is an assistant district attorney with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. He attended the University of Houston, where he received his B.B.A., J.D., and LL.M. degrees, and is board certified in criminal law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

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