Study: DWI Courts Curb Repeat Offenses

ST. PAUL (AP) - A new study finds Minnesota's DWI courts reduce repeat crimes and save taxpayers about $700,000 a year.

The study looked at courts in nine counties created to reduce the number of repeat driving while intoxicated offenders by combining drug and alcohol treatment with the criminal justice system.

Shannon Carey, executive vice president and research associate at Portland, Oregon-based NPC Research, says in eight of the nine courts, people who completed their court-ordered treatment programs were less likely to re-offend than people who didn't finish them.

Carey says most counties with DWI courts spent less on law enforcement and jail costs.

The study included DWI courts in Beltrami, Cass, Crow Wing, Hennepin, Lake of the Woods, Otter Tail, Ramsey, Roseau-Kittson and St. Louis counties.