Coweta County Sheriff Mike Yeager is serious about making sure the county's students are aware of the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse.

Instead of asking the county commission for money from the general fund to expand drug abuse awareness, Yeager asked the commissioners allow him to use a portion of the money garnered in fines to help pay for the program.

The sheriff pointed out a section of the Official Code of Georgia that would allow him to tap the growing fine pool in the county.

The county can create a special county drug abuse treatment and addiction fund from the fines that can be used only to treat and prevent substance abuse.

“Instead of asking the taxpayers to pay for it, the people who break the law will be paying for it,” he said.

Money from fines ranging from traffic violations to drug charges will be placed into a special fund to help continue ongoing treatment programs and create new drug awareness programs in the county's schools, he said.

The county already has officers in each of the county's middle schools and has a drug abuse program in place in the elementary schools, but Yeager wants to expand the programs to make sure the message of zero drug tolerance gets delivered.

Yeager had initially asked for a $20,000 yearly budget for the programs, but said he would rather wait and ask for the money as new problems were created.

The commissioners unanimously approved Yeager's request and encouraged him to keep battling in the war against drugs.

Back to News Home Page | Back to the top of the page