If you drink beer and you're not of legal age, here's fair warning: If you are busted in Holladay or Taylorsville, you could face a year of random drug and alcohol testing, even after you turn 21.

That's what happened to Dmitriy MilÂyavskiy, 21, in Holladay last year, along with dozens of other young beer drinkers who found themselves prosecuted in the city's justice court.

Milyavskiy was not intoxicated when he received his first-ever citation, for possession of beer. A University of Utah business major who holds down a full-time job, he was ordered into 12 months of random testing at his own expense.

The $8 tests were done by Justice Supervision Services, (JSS) the private company that also first evaluated him, billing him $40, and both recommended and provided his treatment: An alcoholism class for $125 and four more sensitive drug tests, at $30 each.

The company has an unusually close relationship with the city courts - its staff is in the courtroom and included in plea-deal talks with defendants. And once people are under the company's supervision, their punishment can be more harsh than sentences handed down in other justice courts.

Holladay Judge Dan Gibbons and Taylorsville Judge Michael Kwan started sending defendants to JSS two years ago, when their cities noticed a sharp upswing in alcohol and drug offenses among minors. "We wanted to take a proactive approach - not the old fine 'em and let 'em go," Kwan said.

The Holladay and Taylorsville judges say they trust the for-profit JSS as a committed and affordable treatment provider.

But by comparison, no private company or treatment provider is in court or at meetings when justice is dispensed in Salt Lake City, said Chief Prosecutor Sim Gill. It also would be rare for a first offender in Salt Lake City's justice court to be ordered into a program that called for random testing, particularly over a long period of time, he said.

"I'd rather see them do community service. Go work for the shelter and see what drunks look like," Gill said.

Justice courts in Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County typically refer defendants to the Salt Lake County Criminal Justice Services, a public agency, for counseling and testing.

Karena Jackson, owner and chief administrator of JSS, said an offender deemed low risk by her intake counselors should not be required to undergo random testing for a year. But she conceded that does sometimes occur - an unintentional outcome of her company's large caseload. The agency of five counselors, two probation officers, three court representatives and five support staff sees about 350 clients a week.

"If someone is having a hard time, they can come in and talk to us," Jackson explained. "But many times they don't. They just get mad."

Judges and prosecutors concede that once a defendant enters the JSS program, its staff alone decides how many tests and classes will be required - and billed. The courts do not see or keep records about treatment and financial charges.

Milyavskiy, whose beer possession case was closed earlier this month, does not feel justice was done. His treatment by JSS was overkill and demeaning, he said.

"I had to call [JSS] up every day for a year" to check the testing schedule, he said. "I have 15 to 20 receipts for [urinalysis] tests. It was so frustrating. It's really unfair."

JSS' call-in testing system is similar to the one used by the state Adult Probation and Parole, which tracks more serious drug offenders.

Some young defendants may require an adjustment period when coming under court supervision for the first time, Jackson said. "It's hard for them to swallow some of the requirements and JSS takes the blame."

Prosecutor Lorenzo Miller says the program with JSS was not designed to be easy.

Lorenzo Miller and Lohra Miller contract with both Holladay and Taylorsville to prosecute misdemeanor cases. Those cited for possession of alcohol or drugs - both minors and others - are offered "plea in abeyance" agreements, which keep the cases from appearing on their permanent criminal records.

"These kids don't realize that when they plead guilty, they are going to get fingerprinted and it's going on the rap sheet and could have repercussions down the road," Lorenzo Miller said. "This is a way to keep their record clean."

Miller said he offers the deals on the condition that defendants stay sober and get counseling and testing from JSS. Beer drinking may be treated casually by young partygoers, he said, but it is at the root of an overwhelming majority of domestic-violence cases and traffic fatalities where alcohol is involved.

"I'm straight up with them," he said. "I tell them this is not the easy way out."

But some first-time offenders, representing themselves in court, may feel they don't have much of an option. Even with a guilty plea and fine, the judge can - and usually will - order treatment and testing anyway.

"The judge can make you do anything he wants," Milyavskiy said. "The judge said he would do the same thing, even if I pleaded guilty."

JSS has no contract with the cities or their courts - but has routine access to their defendants. Kwan sees their attendance in court and at meetings with prosecutors as crucial. Without a provider in court, "the vast majority of people assigned to treatment don't show up," Kwan said. "If the [provider] is in court, the defendant can get signed up."

Some defendants have complained that they were unaware of their right to choose a provider other than JSS. It not only provides the initial evaluations, but in most cases provides the services it has recommended.

Young defendants, particularly first offenders, can be overwhelmed in a courtroom setting, Salt Lake City's Gill noted.

"The question we have to ask is: Are there proper checks and balances in place for a person who is pro se [representing themselves]?" he said. "We want to make sure people are making informed choices."

Kwan agreed young defendants find themselves out of their depth. "I know that when they are here, they are afraid," he said. "But one thing I always tell them is, 'If there are any problems, come back to the court.' We don't want people to feel trapped."

But Daniel B. Casselman felt exactly that, four years into dealing with JSS.

On April 9, 2001, at age 19, he was cited for possession of marijuana in Taylorsville. It was his first offense for illegal possession of alcohol or drugs.

Casselman pleaded not guilty, arguing the one-eighth ounce of marijuana police found in his car after a traffic stop was not his. After losing the case, he was fined and sentenced on July 5, 2001, to 12 months' probation, as well as counseling and testing through JSS.

An evaluation by JSS recommended Casselman receive 32 weeks of counseling and classes, as well as 24 months of random drug testing.

But Casselman said he quit after about 40 weeks when a dispute over his bills arose and a JSS representative threatened to take him back to court. "I said, fine, take me back. I want to talk to the judge," he said.

But it wasn't until last week - more than two years later - that he was hauled back into Kwan's Taylorsville court for noncompliance.

"All my tests were clean. I did 32 weeks and paid all the money," he said. "They lied. They said I owed $300 and that I didn't participate in the program."

Kwan dismissed the case. But the ordeal has left a bad taste in Casselman's mouth.

"They are unprofessional," he said of JSS. "They yell at people and threaten them that they are going to take them back to court."

Kwan said Casselman is in the minority of those dissatisfied with JSS. The plea-in-abeyance program makes more work for the court, and provides less fine money, but helps turn young people around, he said. It should help justice courts shed their image as revenue-collection devices for municipalities, he said.

"If you were to talk to most of the people involved in these programs," he said, "they would tell you they were treated fairly."

csmart@sltrib.com

Tale of two offenders

Dmitriy Milyavskiy, cited at age 20

Charge: Possession of beer, first offense.

Plea: Entered plea in abeyance.

Court costs: $250.

Justice Supervision Services intake evaluation: $40.

JSS class on alcoholism: $125.

JSS EtG tests (4): $120.

JSS urinalysis tests (12): $96.

Daniel B. Casselman, cited at age 19

Charges: Possession of a controlled substance, possession of paraphernalia, first offenses.

Plea: Not guilty, but convicted.

Court fine: $300.

JSS intake evaluation: $40.

JSS drug classes (32): $800.

JSS urinalysis tests (10): $80.

JSS probation fee (10 months): $300.