Last year, Utah County expanded drug court to include a program for repeat felony offenders. Nicknamed "last-chance drug court," this court is targeted toward addicts with lengthy criminal histories and higher levels of "criminality."

These are the men and women who have failed in every other program and get one last chance at treatment before they get sent to prison. If they succeed, they stay out. If not, their pleas are entered, and they are sentenced.

Utah County's "last-chance" drug court has only been going on for a year, but already has shown to be effective, Ragan said.

The change

"There's an emerging body of evidence ... that drug courts should serve high-risk, high-need individuals — that's where the model is effective," Kelsey said. "We don't have enough dollars to treat everyone, so we have to make decisions about where are these dollars best spent."

Those high-risk, high-need people are the ones in Utah County's last-chance drug court and, according to research also cited by officials at the Utah Administrative Office of the Courts, the ones who benefit most from drug court.

Thus as of July 1, those are the only drug courts the state will be funding.

"What we're learning is that first-time offenders are likely to do really well in treatment and under supervision but without all the additional structure and expense of drug court," said Richard Schwermer, assistant state court administrator and statewide drug-court coordinator.

It costs around $4,500 for someone to participate in drug court for a year, compared to $27,000 a year to incarcerate them, Kelsey said. However, it's even cheaper to get someone treatment alone, without drug court.

"There's absolutely no question that drug courts work," Schwermer said. "There's absolutely no question that drug courts save money over any other possible intervention, but now (research) is getting even more sophisticated ... (and it) tells us what parts of the drug-court process are important."

And the answer is clear, Schwermer said. High-risk, high-need clients perform well, and are the best recipients of state funds.

"I'm accountable to the Legislature for this money," Schwermer said. "I want to assure them that I'm only using this expensive (treatment) for people who can use it the most."

Now, screening into drug court will be a bit tighter, ensuring that those who are severely addicted get the help they need, while those with less severe problems will be diverted to other programs.

And there is treatment available for anyone who needs it, Kelsey insists, although he acknowledges the waiting lists are often quite long.