<< Return to Homepage

Douglas County Adult Drug Court
Douglas County Criminal Justice Center
1709 Jackson Street, 4th Floor
Omaha, NE 68102-2513
(402) 599-2661

Sanctions

The Douglas County Drug Court utilizes various sanctions or consequences which are intended to provide program participants with appropriate learning experiences designed for furthering their social and cognitive awareness and skill building. 

These sanctions are imposed by the Drug Court Judge for infractions such as failure to appear in Drug Court when assigned; missing appointments with the Treatment Coordinator, Treatment Provider; Drug Court Counselor; re-arrests; tampering with and/or gaming in anyway the drug screening process. 

Participants who have (consistently) positive; abnormally dilute; tampered with; or refused drug screens can expect to have one or more of the following sanctions imposed as a condition of their continued involvement in the Drug Court:

1. Increased frequency of drug screens/office visits
2. Fee assessment of $10.00 for every positive, tampered, dilute or no show to a random drug screen
3. Re-evaluation of treatment level by the Drug Court Treatment Coordinator
4. Weekly attendance at the Drug Court sessions
5. Remain at the Drug Court session for the entire session
6. Two to seven days in jail

Participants who fail to comply with treatment and other Drug Court requirements, such as keeping treatment, court, and office appointments can expect that their bond will be revoked and jail confinement will be ordered. Failure to show in Drug Court or for treatment and/or office appointments can also result in an arrest order being issued. Once a participant has been arrested on a Drug Court arrest order and the Drug Court office has been notified, transportation will be arranged from the Douglas County personnel so that the participant can appear before the Drug Court Judge. At this hearing, the judge may cancel the arrest order and reinstate or continue the original bond so the participant can be released from custody to resume his/her Drug Court involvement, or possibly terminate the individual's participation in Drug Court.

REALITY ROW

Reality Row is a sanction used predominately in the Track One. It is for participants who are demonstrating non-compliant behavioral patterns with regards to Drug Court requirements. Reality Row is provided as a learning experience to help motivate the participants and to give them a chance to think (time-out) about their infractions and whether or not they really want to continue to participate in the Drug Court. 

Reality Row is a sanction for participants who have repeatedly missed office appointments, Drug Court appointments, or treatment appointments and for participants who it is thought that a sanction such as Reality Row will help. A specific outline explaining Reality Row as a sanction, and expectations, will be handed out at the time this sanction is enacted. Reality Row is seen in the eyes of the Drug Court as a last-chance (one foot in and one foot out) sanction.

OFFENDER WORK PROGRAM

The Douglas County Drug Court has implemented a program sanction and learning experience for participants which is called the Offender Work Program (OWP).

OWP is a sanction for participants who are not attending activities as required, or adhering to the terms and conditions of the Drug Court Program Agreement. It is another option for participants to demonstrate their willingness to remain in the Drug Court. 

The Offender Work Program is a city-established and maintained program that provides men and women an opportunity to give back to their community. The Offender Work Program is where individuals perform supervised work/tasks with the City Parks and Recreation Department, on various days of the week (Monday - Saturday); hours are assigned individually as needed.

Douglas County Home | About DC | Departments | Services Frequently Asked Questions | Feedback © Copyright 2005, Douglas County, Nebraska Disclaimer