Issue Position

In order to fund Education, Health Care, Roads and other essential services spending has to be reduced in other areas. One way to save money while still helping people would be through the use of drug courts. The Chief Justice of South Dakota's Supreme Court Justice is a proponent of drug courts. Drug courts are programs for drug and alcohol offenders which favor rehabilitation over incarceration and the state has had about a 90% success rate with two drug courts, but has a need for more. It costs 64 dollars a day to keep someone in prison but only $3 dollars a day with a drug court. South Dakota's neighboring states have more than we do; Montana has 23 and Minnesota 41. They save taxpayers money and have enormous social benefits by making offenders productive members of society. They keep families together and help break addictions.