Blair County, central Pennsylvania, was denied a request for a quarter of a million dollars to add probation officers to its DUI rehabilitation efforts.

The money would have gone to hire one probation officer and two administrative support staffers to assist with testing the results of the DUI rehabilitation program. DUI courts have been successful in a number of states in effectively treating the problem of repeat DUI offenses from alcohol-dependent individuals. Instead of a prison sentence or other penalties, an individual can elect to enter intense treatment with severe penalties if he or she fails to stay sober.

The DUI court system in Blair county currently has 40 participants, but it cannot add more until the program expands to meet the demands. Currently, the DUI program is only offered in unique causes because of this excess in demand over supply.

Without the funds, the system will not expand to accommodate the newly convicted DUI offenders. Many advocates of DUI courts point out that funds currently allocated toward DUI checkpoints, which are highly costly but often fail to nab DUI offenders, could be better spent on the court systems which show success. 

As of now, with tight restrictions in budgets due to decreased tax revenues do not allow many states to expand services. Reorganizing the budget is never an easy process, regardless of whether apparent solutions do exist.