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A judge had found the diagnosed schizophrenic incompetent to stand trial and ordered him to be sent to a mental hospital, but there was no available bed for months.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
\u201cWhen there’s not enough beds, that’s a crisis that I think we all need to be\u00a0<\/span>concerned about,\u201d his then-attorney, Jennifer Balido, said in a 2016 interview.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Johnson eventually got a bed in a state mental hospital and eventually stood trial for murder. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
For years, wait times have been lengthy, but state officials say those wait times have been exacerbated by the pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
In 2020, the wait time for a maximum-security bed in Texas was 270 days. It\u2019s now 514 days, state officials said.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
The wait time in 2020 for a minimum-security bed was about 3-and-a-half months. It\u2019s now 230 days, or 7-and-a-half months, according to state officials.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Currently, there are more than 2,300 people waiting for a state hospital bed in county jails across Texas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
While those prisoners await a bed, it\u2019s left to county taxpayers to pay the bills while they languish in jail.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s unacceptable,\u201d said Dallas County Commissioner Theresa Daniel. \u201cI don\u2019t care how you cut it.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Daniel told WFAA it costs about $67 on average a day for the county to house a prisoner. But if a prisoner needs health care or mental health services, the cost jumps to about $120 a day.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
\u00a0\u201cDo the math,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s very expensive.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
In the Bexar County jail, there are more than 220 prisoners waiting on a state mental hospital bed. That\u2019s almost double the number from a year ago, said Mike Lozito, director of the county\u2019s Office of Criminal Justice Policy, Planning & Programs.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Lozito said the state is failing in its responsibility to \u201crestore individuals back to competency so they can stand trial.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
\u201cThe person is waiting\u201d for treatment, Lozito said. \u201cSometimes they\u2019re waiting longer than what their sentence would be…Because of their mental health issues, they’re not getting their fair day in court.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
He says it\u2019s the state that has the responsibility to fix the problem.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
State officials say they have been working to increase the number of beds. Seventy maximum-security beds are being added in Kerrville, and there are plans to build a mental hospital in Dallas with about 25 beds.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
However, that number will come nowhere close to fixing what has been a systematic problem for years, critics say.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
\u201cThis is not a good situation for all the\u00a0<\/span>counties and it’s really putting everybody in a crisis,\u201d Lozito said.<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n