[September 05, 2008] State renews substance abuse program Tweet (The Decatur Daily (AL) (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sep. 5--MONTGOMERY -- A legislative committee approved a $100,600 contract renewal Thursday for a Morgan County firm that provides substance abuse education and treatment for defendants. The state Administrative Office of Courts requested the one-year contract for Morgan County Court Referral. The contract is one of 43 with providers that manage substance-abuse-related cases statewide. The Joint Legislative Contract Review Committee approved the contracts totaling $3.38 million. Sen. Tom Butler, D-Madison, a committee member, said the contracts help the court system evaluate, track and manage defendants convicted of alcohol or drug abuse offenses. The court referral programs do not take the place of judicial sentences but work in conjunction with them. In the last contract review meeting before the end of the fiscal year, the committee looked at 246 requests for contracts with non-government sources. The requests from 33 government agencies totaled $45.7 million. The group also considered another $1.2 million in contracts with non-governmental attorneys. The legal contract requests came from 10 different state government sources, including the governor's office. Not all requests were approved. The committee delayed a $3 million Department of Agriculture and Industries contract for an energy audit and engineering assessment of the department's headquarters buildings in Montgomery. Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, asked for a delay in the contract with Chevron Energy Solutions of San Francisco until the department answers questions he raised. The department's maintenance director, Pete Wethington, said pipes are crumbling in the 1970s era structure, and electrical and cooling systems are out of date. Questions raised by Holmes and Rep. Blaine Galliher, R-Gadsden, also delayed $15 million in contracts for the Department of Youth Services. The delay affects the department's contracts for evaluation and placement; residential services; medical, speech therapy and psychiatric care; and building renovation architectural planning. To see more of The Decatur Daily, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.decaturdaily.com Copyright (c) 2008, The Decatur Daily, Ala. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]