A bill in the Kentucky legislature that would allow drug offenders to attend treatment rather than being sentenced to prison has been approved unanimously by a key committee, the Kentucky Post reported Jan. 24.

The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bill, sponsored by Senate Majority Floor Leader Dan Kelly (R-Springfield) and Senate Democratic Floor Leader Ed Worley (D-Richmond). "We have a catastrophic situation," Worley said. "The fastest-growing part of our prison population are nonviolent drug offenders. We can't build enough jail cells in Kentucky to deal with all the people we're going to have with substance-abuse problems."

The bill calls for screening felony offenders for drug problems prior to trial; judges then could order them into treatment as a condition of bail. Charges would be dropped if offenders attend the pretrial diversion program and don't commit other crimes. Two hundred treatment beds would be dedicated to felony offenders with drug addictions, and an aftercare program also would be established.