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Bill would make treatment courts part of judicial branch

GILLETTE — A bill that is making its way through the state Legislature would transfer treatment courts from the Wyoming Department of Health to the judicial branch.

Senate File 23, sponsored by the Joint Judiciary Interim Committee, passed its third reading in the state Senate on a 24-7 vote Wednesday, and has now been introduced in the House.

Currently, treatment courts are part of the Wyoming Department of Health.

The directors of the court-supervised treatment programs in Campbell County are big supporters of the bill.

Chad Beeman, the coordinator of Campbell County Adult Treatment Courts, said right now, under the umbrella of the Department of Health, “we’re kind of the afterthought, last to be funded, first to be cut.”

For the past couple of years, the Department of Health has had much higher priorities than court-supervised treatment, mainly relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We really got pushed back during COVID,” Beeman said. “Our programs were pushed to the bottom of the priority list.”

Jim Lyon, who heads the Juvenile and Family Drug Courts, said he has no complaints with how the Department of Health ran things.

“There were absolutely no concerns, they were good to work with,” he said.

But being part of the judicial branch just makes more sense, Lyon added.

“Everything with our participants generates within the courts system,” he said.

It’s the same for the Adult Treatment Courts. People come into the program because it’s been recommended by a judge as an alternative to a prison sentence.

“Basically, it’ll be a better sentencing option, and I think they’ll give us more priority for funding our department,” Beeman said.

If Senate File 23 does become law, it won’t take effect until July 1, 2024, the start of fiscal year 2024-2025.

Lyon and Beeman just applied for their annual funding for the upcoming fiscal year, which starts July 1.

Beeman applied for $374,186, which would pay for 40 participants. Last year, he applied for 40 slots and was approved for 26. The state later came back and added funding for three more slots.

And Lyon is applying for 12 slots — six juvenile and six youth intervention track — for a total request of $144,429.