Seven convicted criminals whose problems are rooted in drug addiction may have a better chance of staying out of prison because they are participating in a drug court program that began operations this week.

A probation option designed to improve the chances for convicts whose crimes are rooted in addiction to stay out of prison is in place here.

The circuit-court district that includes Warren County has established a drug-court program and it has received its first seven participants during the past week.

People admitted into the program do so under a plea deal for a suspended sentence of the traditional kind: prison time to serve, traditional probation or a combination of the two.

The drug-court program, however, offers convicts who successfully complete it the promise of having the records of convictions expunged. Those who fail are ordered to serve their suspended sentence.

“The person pleads guilty just like in any case, for whatever crime,” Vollor said Wednesday in explaining the program to Vicksburg police officers.

The suspended sentence is negotiated in a plea deal with prosecutors. Admission to the program is contingent on testing and assessment of the defendant to determine the extent of any drug addiction and to approval by a committee.

For most who enter the drug-court program, including all defendants who have previously been convicted of a felony, such sentences will include prison time to serve, District Attorney Gil Martin said.

If a deal involving prospective drug-court admission is reached and the defendant is subsequently denied admission to the program, the deal is voided and any further plea negotiations are begun anew, Martin said.

Drug-court probation lasts about two to three years and requires increased involvement in the supervision of convicts by a judge and his staff and increased coordination among all concerned.

Weekly evening meetings between the judge and participants are required and participants are also required to attend about four to six other meetings a week, including those of a 12-step program like Alcoholics Anonymous, Vollor said.

Participants in the program must agree to waive rights the criminal-justice system has traditionally guaranteed. Among those rights are the right to privacy of certain information judges do not now receive that can help them monitor the program’s effectiveness for each participant, Vollor said.

And while a hearing must be held before a participant may be expelled from the program, drug-court judges have wider latitude to impose sanctions on its participants than they do on convicts on traditional probation.

“I will sanction them with no hearing,” Vollor said. “It’s a whole different ball game.”

Vollor and his court administrator, Lisa Counts, have spent about 18 months researching similar programs to establish the one here. They developed the program following specific federal and state guidelines, Vollor said.

Two new county employees, field officer Jack Hollingsworth and case manager Maryam Aziz, have been hired to help manage the program. Hollingsworth is a veteran state probation officer in Warren County.

The program’s staff has traveled to three or four locations to observe other such programs in action and participate in federal training programs, Vollor said.

The Warren County base for the program is in the former Dalrymple Ford building, 1220 Clay St. The county has leased the building as alternate courtroom space.

Members of the drug-court admission committee are Vollor, the three members of his drug-court staff, Circuit Judge Isadore Patrick, Martin and attorney Richard E. Smith Jr.

Daryl Harris, 26, 109 Dana Road, and David P. Walker, 44, 33 Johnson Drive, entered guilty pleas and were sentenced to the program Monday by Vollor. They and five others whose guilty pleas had not yet been accepted are the program’s first participants.

The county has 645 convicts on traditional probation, Vollor said, adding that his goal is to increase participation in the drug-court to 100 by the end of the year.

Judges have said a large majority of crimes committed have their roots in drug or alcohol addiction.

If the drug-court program reaches those it is intended to help then participants will not like it, at least initially, Vollor said.

“Nobody wants to go cold turkey,” Vollor said of the process of overcoming an addiction.

The program will be tailored to each participant’s needs but consists of three standard phases: getting the participant off drugs, getting him a job and maintaining employment, Vollor said.

“For most people, the pressure’s going to come from their family and those around them,” Vollor told police. “They’re tired of their activity, tired of paying their fines.”

Those who will employ drug-court participants will be among those involved in the program as well, and they will receive tax credits for their participation, Vollor added.

“Some employers have said, ‘We want you in this program’ because they want to keep that person as an employee,” Vollor said.

Prospective participants in the program may not have been convicted of offenses involving violence, drug sale or manufacture or burglary of a home while it is occupied, Vollor said.

Vollor asked police officers to complete a simple form on each person they arrest indicating whether they think the accused person is addicted to drugs or alcohol.

“Y’all know them better than any test I can give,” Vollor said to the officers.

The state Supreme Court has encouraged the formation of such programs and the Legislature has passed a law that was expected to provide up to $5 million annually for them, the Administrative Office of Courts has projected. The county is to be reimbursed for the program from that fund, Vollor said.

Plans are for the program to be expanded to the district’s two northern counties, Sharkey and Issaquena, Vollor said. Patrick said he planned to serve as a judge in the program as it expanded, especially to those counties.

Similar programs are in place in at least 11 other jurisdictions in the state and at least four others have been planned.

The idea has also received bipartisan support at the federal level and Congress has made grant money available for them.

One type of conviction that may not be eligible for expungement from a drug-court participant’s record is that of a third offense of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs by refusal of a test.

The first drug-court program was established in Miami, Fla., in 1989, Vollor told police. Janet Reno, who served as attorney general during the administration of former president Bill Clinton, had been the first drug-court prosecutor and the program has been endorsed by the Bush administration, Vollor added.

“The whole thing is to get them working, to get them back into society so they’re not a drain on society,” Vollor said.

Vollor said he was skeptical of the program at first, thinking the things it does were already being done by traditional probation. After learning more about it, however, he said he believes it can help many participants, including some who might at first seem beyond help.

And Vollor said part of his support for the program was based on his frustration with the corrections system.

“If we can reduce recidivism, it will have a big impact on this community,” he told police.

“Y’all won’t be dealing with them any more,” he said of those who are frequently being arrested for narcotics crimes or related violations who are often released from prison early as the prisons system’s capacity is strained.