DWI Drug Court is a distinct post-conviction court system dedicated to changing the behavior of the alcohol/drug dependent offender arrested for Driving While Impaired (DWI). The goal of the DWI court is to protect public safety by using the drug court model to address the root cause of impaired driving: alcohol and other substance abuse. Variants of DWI courts include drug courts that also take DWI offenders, which are commonly referred to as “hybrid” DWI courts or DWI/drug courts.
The DWI court utilizes all criminal justice stakeholders (prosecutors, defense attorneys, probation, law enforcement, and others) along with alcohol or drug treatment professionals. This group of professionals comprises a “DWI Court Team,” and uses a cooperative approach to systematically change participant behavior. This approach includes identification and referral of participants early in the legal process to a full continuum of drug or alcohol treatment and other rehabilitative services. Compliance with treatment and other court mandated requirements is verified by frequent alcohol/drug testing, close community supervision, and interaction with the judge in non-adversarial court review hearings. During these review hearings, the judge employs a science-based response to participant compliance (or non-compliance) in an effort to further the team’s goal to encourage pro social, sober behaviors that will prevent DWI recidivism (Loeffler & Huddleston, 2003).
