After finding the Seminole County Court Special Programs were operating at a deficit and have debts to repay, District Judge Timothy Olsen found himself making a tough decision.

The amount of debt and auditor recommendations resulted in Olsen eliminating all employees from the Special Court Program.

“After careful consideration of all relevant information and considering all options, the decision was made by the District Court that all employees and employee operations of the Seminole County Court Special Programs (SCCSP) be suspended," Olsen said.

"This was not an easy decision. However, it was apparent that SCCSP could not operate in a financially responsible and feasible manner as structured," he continued.

“Over the past several months, I have enlisted the help of other judges and program directors, as well as the Department of Mental Health, to obtain an alternate resolution to the financial issues facing the operations.

"Unfortunately, each reasonable resolution necessitated a suspension of employee-related operations for a significant period," Olsen said. "On behalf of the District Court I want to thank the SCCSP staff for the work they have done to combat addiction in Seminole County."

Despite the loss of the program's employees, the program itself will continue to serve individuals in the court system.

“The Drug Court, Anna McBride and other specialty court programs will continue to operate and serve Seminole County during this time," Olsen said.

Participants in the programs will continue to report to treatment and dockets.

"The Department of Mental Health, Oklahoma Department of Corrections and Oklahoma Court Services will be assisting with the operations going forward," Olsen said, noting the agencies are accepting the additional task voluntarily to ensure the success of the programs.

“We ask for everyone’s patience and assistance during this critical time of transition," Olsen said. "Our goal is to have financially stronger programs in the future so that we can better address the needs of the Seminole County Criminal Justice System.”

The Audit

Upon taking office at the beginning of the year, Olsen asked for outside perspective as he began his new role as District Judge.

An audit by a third party was conducted at the request of Oklahoma Department of Mental Health, which resulted in findings, which are addressed through the changes implemented by Olsen.

The audit found the drug court was using a bank account outside the purview of the District Court and did not adhere to state guidelines for approval of purchases or deposits, and had no defined perimeters for oversight or checks and balances.

Auditors reviewed three months of bank statements and found overdraft fees that resulted in $325 of overdraft charges. An other report found $1,500 in overdraft fees from July 1, 2018 to March 31,2019, as well as the use of a "fuelman card being used to purchase gasoline for employee's personal vehicles."

Olsen said such practices are unacceptable for many reasons and the issue has been addressed.

Auditors found "very old outstanding items dating back to February 2012, along with other outstanding items that are not unidentified, and also contained outstanding items listed only as "alias". These lead to a misrepresentation of the true available cash balance for the drug court account."

In addition, auditors discovered a Walmart purchase card with an outstanding balance that was not paid in full every month.

"We also noted that monthly statement activity is not being reconciled to invoices or receipts to ensure that the charges are those of the drug court and are properly reflected in the appropriate program," auditors said in their report. "We recommend that the Walmart card balance be paid in full, the account closed and the card destroyed. Approval from the Judge or an individual assigned that responsibility who is not involved in the expenditure process should be received before any expenditures take place."

Auditors recommend all external bank accounts be closed and new accounts should be opened with the County Treasurer for the Adult Drug Court Fee Account, Juvenile Drug Court Fee Account and Mental Health Court Fee Account.

Funds should be transferred from the external accounts to the newly opened Depository Accounts. New deposit slips and vouchers will be necessary for each of these accounts. Funds collected by the court clerk should be deposited in the corresponding depository account.

Recommendations also included that an account reconciliation be completed monthly of the drug court receipt cash books and voucher cash books to the county official depository report.

Criminal Justice

Initiatives

The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) has undertaken a variety of initiatives to promote a Smart on Crime approach to criminal justice challenges resulting from untreated mental health and substance use issues.   These initiatives provide resources to courts and other criminal justice partners, local law enforcement, Oklahoma communities, families and individual seeking help.  

According to ODMHSAS, by engaging individuals in the right services before they experience adverse behavior that leads to criminal justice system involvement, at the earliest possible time once they enter the criminal justice system, while incarcerated and/or when they exit incarceration, we can avoid a continuance of future negative actions and successfully restore that person’s ability to be a successful and contributing community member.  

ODMHSAS funds many programs along the criminal justice continuum.   Each has the goal of providing quick access to care in order to divert individuals from moving deeper into the criminal justice system and decrease the likelihood of future involvement.  

According to ODMHSAS, Out of 25,000 inmates, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections estimates that nearly 12,000 have a history of –or are currently exhibiting– symptoms of severe mental illness. There are 79% of female inmates and 46% of male inmates who have been diagnosed with a mental illness. Of these individuals, 57% were incarcerated for non-violent offenses. Out of all inmates in DOC custody, 33% were imprisoned for drug and alcohol offenses and at least 50% were incarcerated for a crime related to substance abuse.

"Putting people with mental illness or addiction behind bars is not effective in either reducing crime or helping these individuals recover from their illness," ODMHSAS said. "The fact is that treatment works. Non-violent offenders would be better served, economically and medically, with treatment in their communities."

The average cost to maintain an inmate in prison is $48 per day. For someone on a prison mental health unit, the cost jumps to approximately $175 per day. Providing appropriate mental health services to someone in the community to keep them from entering the criminal justice system costs approximately $25/ day; and, providing appropriate substance abuse services to someone in the community to keep them from entering the criminal justice system costs less than $15/day.

Oklahoma's  network of drug and mental health court programs  serve to divert non-violent, eligible offenders from prison to structured, court-supervised substance abuse and mental health treatment.  A smart investment, Oklahoma's drug and mental health courts are saving money and saving lives.

Examples of Court

Programs

• Drug Courts –  The annual cost of drug court is $5,000 compared to $19,000 for incarceration.   That alone is a significant benefit.   But, what really tells the story are the improved outcomes.   Drug Court graduates are much less likely to become incarcerated compared to released inmates. Measured program outcomes include 95.4 percent drop in unemployment, a 119.3 percent jump in monthly income, a 116.7 percent increase in participants with private health insurance and better than 81 percent of graduates are able to again live with their children.   A tracking study of over 4,000 graduates monitored for a five year period demonstrated earnings of better than $204 million that resulted in an estimated $6.1 million in tax revenue paid to the state.   Had these graduates been incarcerated, instead of in drug court, it would have cost the state an additional $191.6 million (average sentence of three years each).   There are approximately 4,000 drug court slots statewide.   

• Mental Health Courts –  The outcomes for mental health courts, like drug courts, are impressive.   Graduates of mental health courts are nearly 8 times less likely to become incarcerated compared to released inmates, and nearly 14 times less likely to be incarcerated than released inmates who have been diagnosed as having a serious mental illness.   Program graduates have seen a 60 percent drop in unemployment, a 97 percent decrease in arrests and an 89 percent decrease in the number of days spent in jail.   Graduates of the program also show a 63 percent decrease in the number of needed inpatient hospital days.   There are currently mental health courts in 16 Oklahoma counties with an additional 17 counties having requested services.   Appropriated state funding currently allows for approximately 700 mental health court slots statewide.  

• Family Treatment Courts –  There are currently six Oklahoma counties utilizing family drug courts. This initiative is a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach to serve families who require substance use disorder treatment and who are involved with the child welfare system. These courts bring together substance use and mental health treatment agencies, child welfare services and other others in a non-adversarial approach. They provide safe environments for children, intensive judicial monitoring and interventions to treat parents’ substance use disorders and other co-occurring risk factors. Positive outcomes include higher rates of participation and better adherence to substance use disorder treatment, family reunification and less time for children in foster care.   Participants in the ODMHSAS program have experienced a 125 percent reduction in out-of-home placement days and a 58 percent reduction in unemployment.   Additionally, the program has meant that 61 infants were born drug-free.

• Misdemeanor Diversion Programs –  Misdemeanor diversion programs partner criminal justice accountability with evidence-based substance abuse and mental health treatment services to decrease future involvement with the criminal justice system.   Misdemeanor diversion general operates within two models:

1. Misdemeanor Treatment Courts -  These are highly structured programs include, but are not limited to, regular court appearances, case management, supervision, random drug screens, group and individual therapy by certified treatment agencies.

2. Deferred Adjudication Treatment Programs -  These programs provide diversion strategies, such as deferred prosecution agreements, as the legal mechanism for participation.   The participant receives individualized treatment services provided by certified treatment agencies without the supervision of the court.   Treatment providers report to the DA when a participant is non-compliant with services.   There are currently seven counties operating misdemeanor diversion programs, with an additional 9 in planning stages.  

• Zone4Vets –  Services for veterans are provided by ODMHSAS through the Zone4Vets initiative.   Zone4Vets is a special distinction that criminal justice programs, such as treatment courts, can earn by meeting a set of research-supported criteria for operational standards and policies.   Programs receiving the Zone4Vets distinction have enhanced collaboration with community veteran resources, receive specialized training, and follow practices to quickly identify justice-involved veterans in the criminal justice system.   Several programs across the state have received Zone4Vets honors and are providing exceptional care to veterans in their communities.