Georgia House backs expansion of jail-based program for mentally ill suspects

By Michelle Baruchman, AJC

Criminal defendants with a history of mental illness often need to be declared mentally competent before they can stand trial, a process known in the criminal justice system as “restoration.”

The problem in Georgia is there aren’t enough available beds in hospitals to accommodate the backlog of suspects waiting for evaluation.

On Wednesday, the state House voted 159-8 in favor of Senate Bill 533 to allow jails to conduct the restoration process if the sheriff agrees to join the program.

As of last week, 630 people were stuck in jail waiting for a bed, said Rep. Tyler Paul Smith, a Bremen Republican who carried the bill in the House. They wait for an average of 275 days for one of the state’s 641 beds.

The challenge is at least half of the people using those beds stay for more than nine years, meaning it is not often that a new bed becomes available.

“This bill is just another effort to help those with mental illness who are stuck in our jails to get the treatment that they need,” Smith said to members.

The idea was piloted in Chatham and Cobb counties to teach prisoners how to de-escalate violent situations and provide some group therapy, Smith said. The program has sped up the time someone needs to get treated and restored to competency so they can stand trial.

Democratic Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, who represents Decatur, said “this represents an enormous amount of very hard work by both the sheriffs and the judges to deal with a problem that is significantly clogging our system.”