Kalispell Municipal Judge Heidi Ulbricht doesn’t think a jail cell is the solution for a person convicted of driving under the influence – at least not without having a chance at treatment first.
Ulbricht led efforts to start up an alternative sentencing court for DUI offenders in January. At the time, Kalispell was one of only two Montana cities to adopt such a program, also called an accountability court. The other was Billings.
More than halfway through the program’s first year, Ulbricht is pleased with the results and is hoping to receive grant money to extend it for a second year. She has also applied for grant money to start up a similar program aimed at misdemeanor drug offenders. Ulbricht is expecting to get word on each of the grant requests by October.
“It’s been very successful,” Ulbricht said.
The original grant to form the DUI court came through the Montana Department of Transportation. It totaled $90,000 plus $8,000 to send a team from Kalispell to a national training seminar to learn more about alternative sentencing systems. The team – which includes Ulbricht, a public defender, a treatment provider, a police officer and others – leaves for the Traverse City, Mich., on Sept. 21-25.
With the new system, people convicted of a DUI in Kalispell City Court have the option of accepting a traditional sentence, which generally includes jail time for repeat offenders, or partaking in the alternative sentencing program. Ulbricht said offenders choose the alternative court to avoid jail time, get their driver’s license back earlier or because “they’re at the end of their rope” – they truly want to change their ways.
The system is geared more toward the chronic offender than the first-timer. For people to qualify, they must be charged with a DUI and, through tests, must be deemed chemically dependent. Of the nine participants currently in Kalispell’s program, eight are repeat offenders. There were originally 11 but two dropped out, Ulbricht said. In 2008, there were a total of 229 DUI charges processed in municipal court.
Participants in the program receive individual and group counseling on a weekly basis, are subject to an electronic bracelet that takes samples of sweat to determine if they have been drinking, and receive positive motivation and treatment. The traditional model of incarceration, Ulbricht said, leaves the door wide open for repeat offenses after jail because it doesn’t focus on treatment. The alternative court also helps relieve jail congestion.
Barring a relapse, the offender spends nine months in the program. Ulbricht said “one relapse takes you back to ground zero in terms of days of sobriety.” Participants also receive sanctions for missteps. Sanctions includes community service, a mandatory essay or, in some cases, jail time.
“With this, you’re treating the underlying problems so they’re not getting in a car and killing somebody,” Ulbricht said. “And hopefully they’re becoming a positive part of society.”