Patti is one of two judges working full time on the new DUI Court and Intensive Supervision Program for the District Court. Prior to developing the DUI Court with a team of other individuals, Judge Walker and the DUI Court team studied other DUI and Drug Courts around the nation. This DUI Court is the first comprehensive DUI Court in the State of Washington.

The DUI Court has two prongs:

1. Consolidation of all County DUI cases into two courts

• Consistent and effective sentencing
• Staff & Team receive additional training in effective treatment programming
• Resolution of cases within 6 months
• Tracking of all DUI court cases & statistics

2. DUI Intensive Supervision Program

• Designed for chronic addicts and alcoholics unable to overcome addiction through traditional sentencing (jail and treatment)
• Defendant asks to opt into the program after attending Orientation
• DUI Court Team staffs case to determine eligibility and appropriateness for program
• 4 Phase program requiring graduation from each phase
• Intense supervision including Jail/Geiger and gradual lessening of restraints as defendant earns less supervision
• Home/work checks, constant drug & alcohol monitoring, polygraphs, drug & alcohol treatment
• Must serve jail sentences as ordered by the Court
• Bi-monthly review hearings (Night Court at Valley Court)
• Participants must become employed or in school
• Participants must live and work in clean & sober environment
• Participants must maintain sobriety & abide by all program rules

While many chronic DUI offenders leave the Court with no option but to incarcerate for the full jail term, the DUI Intensive Supervision Program provides an opportunity for an offender to end their criminal activity. The DUI Intensive Supervision Participants work on maintaining sobriety in a very structured environment and are slowly weaned from the intense supervision and jail as their lives are restructured and their resolve to maintain sobriety is strengthened. This innovative team approach to addressing the high number of repeat offenders has afforded our community a solution to this program. Jail alone provides only temporary safeguarding of the community and is a costly solution where the defendant typically returns to the community with the same addiction. The costs of this system are borne by the offender. The end result is less risk to the community and better use of limited resources in the community.

The individuals who have opted into the DUI Intensive Supervision Program within the DUI Court are now achieving sobriety and clean living, some for the first time in their adult lives. The savings to our community are numerous: Previously the only option for these offenders was incarceration. With numbers like 8, 10 and 16 prior DUI charges in their criminal history, the options for addressing this continuing problem were few. Most individuals ended up serving long term jail sentences which were often followed by a new DUI charge and another sentence. Now, these same individuals are working, paying for their own supervision and monitoring to ensure no drug or alcohol use. None of the individuals in the program have reoffended.