JACKSONVILLE, Fla — (The video above is from an earlier report.)
When a judge orders a mentally incompetent defendant get treatment at state psychiatric hospital, the state has 15 days to comply. But the state stopped complying with the law when COVID hit, and hasn't resumed 18 months later.
For inmates mentally incapable of standing trial, the state's refusal to transport put the care they need -- and any possibility of a trial -- out of reach.
But a new order from the First District Court of Appeals may change that.
The court says the state Department of Children and Families, which runs the state’s mental hospitals, must begin accepting jail inmates in need of psychiatric care “immediately.”
Last August, the local Public Defender’s Office sued DCF on behalf of jail inmates, some of them “grossly psychotic,” who'd been denied access to the state’s mental hospitals. DCF stopped accepting inmates at state psychiatric facilities in March 2020 due to COVID-19, and has extended that ban several times since.
The Public Defender’s Office argued the state lacked the authority to override state law requiring a 15-day placement after a judge orders the transport of a mentally incompetent defendant.
In its order, the court found “sufficient factual basis demonstrating that [DCF] has failed to carry out its statutory duty … to provide treatment to the Petitioner, a criminal defendant who has been found incompetent.”
That means DCF must transport all backlog patients now.
"We're very happy about this," said Public Defender Charlie Cofer, saying he hopes their clients can now access court-ordered care.
First Coast News reached out to DCF for comment and will update this story when they respond.