Prior to July 2010, there were no diversion programs available. As of today, there are now programs for PAULA, Public Intoxication, Possession of Marijuana and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
The Possession of Marijuana diversion program is the oldest and most well-established.
The PAULA and Public Intoxication programs are publicized on the Johnson County Attorney’s website.
The first requirement for these programs is the charge must have been filed by the State. Many PAULA charges are filed directly by the City of Iowa City. The City has no diversion programs. Therefore, if the Iowa City Police Department (as opposed to the University of Iowa Public Safety Department or Johnson County Sheriff) wrote your PAULA ticket, you are probably not going to be eligible for diversion.
The State has published the following criteria for acceptance into the PAULA and Public Intoxication diversion programs:
- No accompanying charges with the Public Intoxication/PAULA charge other than offenses under Iowa Code § 321.
- No drug or alcohol-related simple misdemeanor convictions in the past six years and no Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) convictions in the past 12 years.
- No serious or aggravated misdemeanor convictions (ex. possession of a controlled substance) in the past six years.
- No felony convictions.
- No deferred judgments in the past six years.
- Participation is at the discretion of the Johnson County Attorney.
If these requirements are met, the defendant stands a good chance of being accepted.
The final, and least-known program, is the Possession of Drug Paraphernalia program. It is a hybrid of the two programs listed above, with the same requirements as the Marijuana diversion program, but the procedure of the alcohol programs.
Before you plead guilty to any of the above offenses, be sure to check with our office to see if you would be eligible for any of these programs. We are happy to assist you here at Thompson Law Office.