The Denver Drug Court was originally established in 1994 as one of the first Drug Courts in the nation. In 2002, the court was scaled down.
Denver’s redesigned Drug Court opened its doors March 5, 2007, a collaboration of Denver’s court systems, the District Attorney’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office, the Probation Department, the Denver Police Department and community-based treatment providers.
The Commission allocated $1.2 million to run the new drug court in its first 18 months, and continued funding will be evaluated based upon the program’s effectiveness.
It is anticipated that 1,800 new defendants will participate in Drug Court annually, and approximately 30% of all criminal filings on an annual basis will be diverted from traditional District Court calendars.
The Drug Court program is for offenders charged with drug offenses who have a demonstrated substance abuse problem. Offenders with current charges involving weapons or substantial amounts of narcotics, history of sex offenses or violent criminal activity are not eligible.
Historically, drug court-eligible defendants spent approximately 90 days in jail awaiting court. With the new drug court, this process can take as few as four business days after the offender’s arrest for drug charges.