TRENTON — Although it wasn't all of what he wanted in his proposed criminal justice reforms, Gov. Chris Christie today signed a measure requiring drug treatment for low-level offenders who otherwise would serve prison terms.

The bill Christie signed at the Rescue Mission of Trenton establishes a $2.5 million pilot program to expand drug court in three counties. The measure expands the types of crimes that can be considered as criteria for inmates eligible for drug court and it makes it mandatory not voluntary as had previously been the case for those who qualify.

“What we’re dealing with most people here is an addiction, an illness that needs to be treated as such,” he said. “And I truly firmly believe that this will not only be extraordinarily successful in terms of the numbers that it will produce over time, but I also believe that even if it was successful only once, we could claim success because every life is precious.”

Drug court programs, in New Jersey for more than a dozen years, divert inmates from prison but require them to undergo intensive outpatient or inpatient treatment. They appear regularly before judges who determine whether they continue to meet the rigorous terms of the five-year program.

Participants must have a drug addiction, be receptive to treatment and be deemed able to be helped by treatment.

The state spends $42,000 to house one inmate for a year. Drug courts, which are in all 21 counties, cost $11,300 per inmate.

Christie wanted mandatory drug treatment for inmates in every county but Democrats, who control the legislature, said New Jersey can’t afford a statewide expansion. Today, Christie said he took their suggestion for the five-year phase in to all counties to give the state time to fully fund it and to give private treatment facilities time to expand to accommodate the additional clients.

State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), a sponsor of the measure, said the expanded types of crimes goes into effect in six months. For instance, robbery initially was excluded from the list of qualifying crimes, but now defendants charged with that offense may be included if the crime was not committed with the weapon and no one was hurt.

The state will start requiring all low-level drug offenders to participate in a year.

It’s anticipated 1,500 inmates will be added to drug courts in the first year, he said.

Christie wanted to counterbalance the anticipated increase of inmates in county jails with a revision of the state’s bail laws that would keep serious offenders in jail while waiting for trial. But Democrats, concerned about the effect the change would have on minority populations, did not put up the measures for a vote before breaking for the summer last month.

The three counties that will get the pilot program have yet to be determined, but lawmakers have said they want at least one to be in north Jersey and one to be in the southern part of the state.

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