10.1177/0306624X05285095International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyGalloway, Drapela / Nonm tropolitan Drug Courts Are Effective Drug Courts an Urban Phenomenon? Considering Their Impact on Recidivism Among a Nonmetropolitan Adul

Drug courts represent a significant development in criminal justice during the past 15 years, and a small but growing literature suggests they are effective in reducing drug use and criminal behavior. Most of these studies evaluate the effects of drug courts in urban areas, however. This study adds to this literature by considering the effects of this inter-mediate sanction among adult offenders in a small, nonmetropolitan county of northwest Washington. Using a retrospective comparison group of matched control participants, these results show that the prevalence and incidence of rearrest is significantly lower among drug court graduates than probationers. These differences in recidivism persist even when the age, race, gender, and number of days at risk in the community are statis-tically controlled. Among those who did recidivate, drug court graduates did not signifi-cantly differ from controls in duration to first arrest and arrest incidence. Policy impli-cations are discussed