Officials at the state Mental Health Institute in Pueblo and in Gov. Bill Ritter’s administration acted in the best interests of Colorado by moving quickly to resolve the dispute over jail inmates who need mental competency evaluations before going to court.
Under a court-sanctioned plan, mentally ill inmates will get competency evaluations at the mental health institute within 28 days of receiving a judge’s order.
In December, Denver District Judge Martin Egelhoff threatened to hold state officials in contempt after learning that inmates were languishing up to six months in local jails that lack the resources to deal with mentally ill inmates. The wait was caused by a lack of space at the Pueblo hospital.
The legislature’s Joint Budget Committee in December allocated $1.6 million in emergency funding so the hospital could reopen an existing unit. Within three weeks, Human Services and hospital officials had the unit staffed and began moving jail inmates in for evaluations. By Feb. 2, all 81 inmates had been evaluated and either returned to court or sent to treatment, Human Services spokeswoman Liz McDonough said. She said officials from Ritter’s incoming administration “immediately got engaged and helped move things forward.” Job well done.
