§ 16-10-139. Specialty court program evaluation and approval — Definition

(a) As used in this section, “specialty court program” means one of the following:

1. (1) A pre-adjudication program under § 5-4-901 et seq.;

2. (2) An approved drug court program under the Arkansas Drug Court Act, § 16-98-301 et seq.;

3. (3) The Swift and Certain Accountability on Probation Pilot Program under § 16-93-1701 et seq.; and

4. (4) Any other specialty court program that has been approved by the Supreme Court, including without limitation specialty court programs known as:

   1. (A) A DWI court;

   2. (B) A mental health court;

   3. (C) A veteran’s court;

   4. (D) A juvenile drug court;

   5. (E) A “HOPE” court;

   6. (F) A “smarter sentencing” court; and

   7. (G) A mental health crisis intervention center.

(b) A specialty court program operated by a circuit court or district court must be approved by the Supreme Court in the administrative plan submitted under Supreme Court Administrative Order No. 14.

(c)

1. (1) The Specialty Court Program Advisory Committee shall evaluate and make findings with respect to all specialty court programs operated by a circuit court or district court in this state and refer the findings to the Supreme Court.

2. (2) An evaluation under this section shall reflect nationally recognized and peer-reviewed standards for each particular type of specialty court program.

3. (3) The Specialty Court Program Advisory Committee shall also:

   1. (A) Establish, implement, and operate a uniform specialty court program evaluation process to ensure specialty court program resources are uniformly directed to high-risk and medium-risk offenders and that specialty court programs provide effective and proven practices that reduce recidivism, as well as other factors such as substance dependency, among participants;

   2. (B) Establish an evaluation process that ensures that any new and existing specialty court program that is a drug court meets standards for drug court operation under § 16-98-302(b); and

   3. (C) Promulgate rules to be approved by the Supreme Court to carry out the evaluation process under this section.

(d) A specialty court program shall be evaluated under the following schedule:

1. (1) A specialty court program established on or after April 1, 2015, shall be evaluated after its second year of funded operation;

2. (2) A specialty court program in existence on April 1, 2015, shall be evaluated under the requirements of this section prior to expending resources budgeted for fiscal year 2017; and

3. (3) A specialty court program shall be reevaluated every two (2) years after the initial evaluation.