Does the probability of DWI arrest fall following participation in DWI and hybrid drug treatment court programs?

•Half of DWI-convicted persons enrolling in DWI and drug courts completed the programs.•Completing a specialty program was associated with lower re-arrest rates for DWI.•Enrolling in but not completing a specialty court program did result in a reduction in recidivism.•DWI court completers were less re-arrest prone than drug court completers.•Only slightly over 1% of arrestees for DWI were referred to a specialty court. Using North Carolina administrative data, this study examined recidivism following participation in specialty hybrid drug and driving while intoxicated (DWI) court programs. Three court program participation levels were considered—being referred to, enrolling in, and completing a specialty court program. Measures of DWI recidivism were: arrest and total number of arrests for DWI, and being convicted of DWI during follow-up periods of two and, alternatively, four years. Propensity score matching was used to obtain comparable control groups. Using a four-year follow-up, persons convicted of a DWI who completed a specialty court program were associated with a greater reduction in DWI re-arrests and re-convictions than did matched individuals who were never referred to a specialty court program. DWI courts were more effective in reducing re-arrests than hybrid drug courts were. Although promising from the vantage point of participants, few persons convicted of a DWI were referred to either court type, thus limiting this strategy’s potential effectiveness in reducing DWI.