Washington County panel eyes mental health court

What’s next

Washington County’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee will report to the Quorum Court’s Jail/Courts/Law Enforcement Committee when that panel meets at 6 p.m. Monday. The committee is studying ways to make the criminal justice system more efficient and responsive to the community’s needs. The committee was formed as a part of an effort by the Quorum Court to find solutions to crowding in the county’s jail that wouldn’t require additional space.

Source: NWA Democrat-Gazette

FAYETTEVILLE — A Washington County committee is looking at establishing a court program to help people in need of mental health services avoid incarceration.

The county’s Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee discussed a mental health court when the panel met Thursday. Prosecuting Attorney Matt Durrett, co-chairman of the group, said there are several steps before the county could form a mental health court.

“We would have to have funding for the court, of course,” Durrett said. “The Quorum Court would have to approve that. We would need to have the approval of the circuit judges and the state Supreme Court.”

Durrett said members of the committee have spent some time observing a mental health court in Sebastian County. The committee members supported setting up a similar court in Washington County to begin by hearing cases of individuals charged with misdemeanor offenses.

Durrett said the group also discussed hiring someone to coordinate or expedite the process of getting people into existing drug court and veterans court programs. He said the typical waiting time to someone to be assigned to those courts after an arrest is about 60 days. He said the committee supported a goal of cutting that in half to 30 days.

Jay Cantrell, chief deputy with the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, said the diversionary courts would provide some relief to the crowding in the jail, but not a significant amount.

Cantrell said the jail population on Friday was 691. The jail has a design capacity of 710 beds and an operating capacity of about 570 detainees due to the need to separate different offenders.

“We keep very few misdemeanants in our current situation,” Cantrell said. “This would be for first-time drug offenders or low-level, nonviolent offenders. Those people are now mostly being released on their own recognizance or on bonds so they’re not taking up a lot of space. The most important thing with these diversionary courts is getting them services and treatment they need so they don’t fall into the pattern of being repeat offenders.”

The committee was formed to explore alternatives to a proposed jail expansion project. Sheriff Tim Helder presented a plan for a $38 million, 600-bed jail expansion to the Quorum Court in 2018. The now-shelved expansion would have been paid for by a temporary sales tax.

The committee includes representatives from law enforcement, judges, prosecutors, public defenders, mental health professionals and some community representatives.

Justices of the peace said when the committee was formed they wanted to explore alternatives to a jail expansion and a report authorized by the Quorum Court recommended forming a committee to consider options short of expanding the jail. A $20 million plan to add beds and expand space for booking, medical services, courts, administrative offices and storage in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic is currently being considered by the Quorum Court.

Sarah Moore of Fayetteville is with the Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition, which has lobbied the county to pursue alternatives to a jail expansion. Moore said there have been a number of programs identified but not yet implemented that could reduce crowding in the jail. She said she would like to see the Quorum Court put more resources into pretrial services and other programs as a first choice.

“We’d like to see more energy and attention given to these alternatives,” Moore said.