Mental health courts win Senate approval
BOISE – The Senate unanimously passed three bills Tuesday aimed at expanding mental health courts in the state and raising funds to support them.
Lawmakers cited the high rate of success the courts have had in helping offenders get back on their feet and lower the prison population.
“Once in a while a gem comes along that you say, ‘Thank God,’ ” said Sen. Dick Compton, R-Coeur d’Alene. “The figures are extraordinary – from people not in jail to people who go to work, believe it or not, after living under a bridge.”
Said Sen. Denton Darrington, R-Declo, “This is the one proven way to lower incarceration numbers and help people…. This will have quite a positive effect.”
Currently the two mental health courts – in Coeur d’Alene and Idaho Falls – are running on an experimental basis and receive no direct state funding. The legislation, however, would officially recognize the special courts and allow every judicial district in the state to set up mental health courts, and would provide a funding mechanism for them.
All three bills passed on 35-0 votes, and now go to Gov. Dirk Kempthorne’s desk.
Similar to drug courts, the mental health courts provide rehabilitation services to drug offenders with mental illnesses. Instead of being sent to jail, offenders are put in an intense program in which their medications are controlled by a psychiatrist, and they meet with a drug team three times a week. Once a week, they meet with a judge to discuss their progress.
One of the measures, HB 326, allows courts to increase misdemeanor fines from $300 to $1,000. The extra $700 would go to a fund currently used for drug and family courts, but which will be expanded to include mental health courts.
Darrington, a sponsor of HB 326, said the increased fines could net over $1 million.
“This may allow 300 or more people to participate in (mental health) courts,” said Darrington, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee.
Following the drug court model, the legislation also requires that offenders admitted into the program pay $300 a month to be a part of it, unless the courts find good reason to exempt them from the fee.
“This provides an innovative opportunity to treat offenders,” said Sen. Patti Anne Lodge, R-Huston.
At the beginning of the session, two mental health court judges, including 1st District Judge John T. Mitchell of Coeur d’Alene, briefed the Senate Health and Welfare Committee on the importance of the special courts, saying state funding could do wonders for their programs.
Mitchell told the committee that the program in Coeur d’Alene could add 66 people immediately if it had state funds.