A new program to keep high-risk probationers on the straight and narrow seems to be working, a circuit court judge said.

Statistics based on the first seven months of the new program show participants missed far fewer appointments with their probation officers and tested positive for drug use far less often than their counterparts in the overall probation population, said Circuit Judge Steve Alm.

"They seem to have gotten the message: If you miss an appointment or turn in a dirty urinalysis while on probation, the chances are very high that you will be arrested on the spot and will be headed for jail very, very quickly," said Alm, who initiated the program.

The project was launched in October to keep track of people who had previously demonstrated an inability to meet the terms of their probation. The program features "swift and sure consequences" — including jail time — for probation violators, Alm said.

Approximately 70 people were moved into the high-risk probation group at the start of the program. Some of those in the high-risk group are sex offenders while the others have been convicted of car thefts or break-ins and many have underlying drug charges as well, Alm said.

About 7,000 adults are on probation across the state. Each probation officer averages 190 to 200 clients apiece.

Through April of this year, of the 436 appointments with probation officers, only six were missed — or 1.4 percent. That compares with 10.8 percent of the appointments missed for all people on probation.

And of the 198 urine samples tested for drugs, nine came back positive, or 4.5 percent. In the general probation population, 29.6 percent of samples were positive between October and April.

Those in the high-risk program face random drug screening from four to six days a week. Someone whose urine tests positive for drugs in the morning can find himself in Alm's courtroom the same afternoon, for what's called a "probation modification" hearing, and in jail before the sun goes down.

This expedited system is in contrast to what probation officers typically face in dealing with clients who habitually violate the terms of their probation.

As a last resort, probation officers can initiate probation revocation proceedings. But they have to sign an affidavit listing the client's alleged violations and turn the affidavit over to the prosecutor's office, which then decides whether to initiate full-blown court proceedings to revoke someone's probation.

For the new program, Alm said the prosecutor's office helped design a new form that allows probation officers to merely indicate a reason why a probation revocation hearing is needed. Near the top of the list of reasons are missed appointments or positive drug tests.

The probation officer then faxes the form to Alm's office, which then schedules a hearing.

Alm worked with the state public defender's office, an association of private criminal defense lawyers in Hawai'i, officials from the state Department of Public Safety and other law-enforcement officials to develop the streamlined process.

"Having been in law enforcement here as a U.S. attorney and a city prosecutor, I felt there had to be a better way to change people's behavior," Alm said. "The system was not set up to move swiftly or with a high degree of certainty."

He said he tries to emphasize to probationers in the high risk group that habitual violation of probation rules can ultimately lead to revocation of probation and prison sentences of up to five, 10 or even 20 years in some cases.

In a hearing yesterday, accused probation violator Gaylord Glushenko stood in Alm's courtroom with state public defender Jack Tonaki at his side.

Alm sentenced Glushenko, who acknowledged he had violated the terms of his probation by walking away from a drug treatment center, to 88 days in jail.

"You've got to follow the rules," Alm told Glushenko. "Everybody wants a bed at that facility. They want you to succeed, we want you to succeed."

After the hearing, Tonaki said he has no quarrel with the new program.

"I think it's positive to the extent it gives (people on probation) a clear picture of what's expected of them to avoid coming back for a full-on probation revocation," Tonaki said. "They are told right up front they are in a high-risk group; they receive clear warning.

"With the huge crystal meth problems we have out there, we're all looking for a way to help stem the tide. If a program like this will work, great. Meth is just a huge, systemwide problem out there."