Judge backs courts for mentally ill

BOISE – The Coeur d’Alene mental health court is going so well it should be expanded statewide, 1st District Judge John T. Mitchell told a Senate committee Thursday.

“I’m trying to get judges from around the state to start programs like this,” Mitchell told the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. “We’re keeping people out of prison and making them functioning members of society.”

Members of the committee agreed, saying Idaho needs to start financially supporting courts like it.

Mitchell joined 7th District Judge Brent Moss, of Idaho Falls, in briefing the committee on the progress of the state’s only two mental health courts. 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 where 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.

Currently, the courts only can serve people who are eligible for, or on, Medicaid. But if the state provided funds, Mitchell said, there would be 66 people in Kootenai County the court could add immediately.

Moss started Idaho’s first mental health court in Bonneville County three years ago after he realized his drug court wasn’t treating offenders with mental problems.

“They were saying, ‘If I feel this way sober, I don’t want to be sober,’ ” Moss said.

After hearing about the Idaho Falls court’s success, Mitchell traveled there last spring to learn about it. Four months later, the Coeur d’Alene court began treating five people.

Of the 14 clients Mitchell’s court currently serves, he said, “The change in them has been incredible, and it’s only been four months … I can’t wait to see what they’ll be like in six months.”

Moss and Mitchell are volunteering their time to run the special courts.

Sen. Dick Compton, R-Coeur d’Alene, chairman of the Health and Welfare Committee, called Moss and Mitchell “trend-setters.”

Compton said lawmakers shouldn’t just watch the new courts develop: “We should enthusiastically support it.”

Several members of the committee voiced concern, however, on where the funding for the courts would come from.

“As we all know, the funds have to come from somewhere,” said Elliot Werk, D-Boise.

Patti Tobias, administrative director of the Idaho Supreme Court, said a number of funding packages are being worked on.

Right now, she said, “We are robbing Peter to pay Paul,” to keep the courts afloat. Many employees have added cases to their workloads to facilitate the courts, she said.

But primarily, Werk and Compton wanted to know how much money the Supreme Court thought was needed to support the courts, especially if they were to be expanded.

“As a matter of policy, we don’t want to give an amount,” Tobias said. “That’s for the legislators to decide.”

Sen. Denton Darrington, R-Declo, told Moss and Mitchell no matter how much money is available, mental health courts will only be started by judges who have the same dedication as them.