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Last year, Mississippi passed a new law aimed at reducing the number of people incarcerated simply because they need mental health treatment. Officials say this has resulted in fewer people with severe mental illness being held in prisons.
But data submitted by various organizations is contradictory and incomplete, making it impossible to know whether the numbers are really declining.
“It’s become inconsistent. Sometimes it’s not there in other parts of the state,” said the Republican from New Albany, chairman of the Public Health and Human Services Committee, who has made civil pledges in the past two sessions. said Rep. Sam Creekmore IV, who sponsored the related bill. “So when the numbers are inconsistent, it’s very difficult to assess how well or how badly we’re doing.”
After reporting from Mississippi Today and ProPublica revealed that hundreds of people without criminal charges are held in Mississippi prisons each year awaiting involuntary mental health evaluation and treatment. , the state Legislature last year approved changes to the state’s civil commitment law. They often received no psychological care in prison and were treated like criminal defendants. The investigation found that since 2006, at least 17 people have died after being imprisoned in this process. And a national study conducted as part of that series found that Mississippi is unique among states in its heavy use of prisons for civil offenses.
under New law that came into effect in JulyA person cannot be held in prison unless all other options for care have been exhausted and unless they are “actively violent.” and cannot be held for more than 48 hours. The new law also requires people in crisis to first consult a mental health professional, who can recommend commitment or suggest more appropriate self-treatment options. , the civil commitment process can be completely avoided.
In the first three months after the law took effect, more than 1,300 people across the state were tested for possible civil commitment, and more than 500 were placed in less restrictive treatment options, according to a report from the Community Mental Health Center. It is said to have been repurposed. But over the same period, from July to September 2024, state officials, counties and community mental health centers all reported vastly different numbers of people spending time in jail over the course of the process.
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Community mental health centers reported 43 people incarcerated during this period, less than half the number of 102 reported by the Department of Mental Health. The department’s numbers are also likely an undercount because they only include people admitted to state hospitals after a stint in prison. Department of Mental Health spokesman Adam Moore told Mississippi Today he could not explain the discrepancy.
And despite the 2023 law, only 43 of the 82 Mississippi Chancery Court clerks who submitted data during the same period did so. Requested court to report psychiatric commitment data to the state. These counties reported a total of 25 people held in jail during civil commitment proceedings from July to September 2024.
Creekmore said he plans to propose legislation this year to ensure more counties submit the required data.
“If the data is not complete, it becomes practically impossible to legislate changes (to the new civil commitment law),” he said.
Last year, Creekmore said the Department of Mental Health would “police” the county to ensure compliance. However, the authorities themselves said otherwise. Moore told Mississippi Today and ProPublica that he will educate county officials and mental health workers about the new law, but will not enforce it.
Moore said the Department of Mental Health sends quarterly reminders to administrative staff about reporting deadlines, provides access to training videos and written instructions, and has a help desk for technical questions. said.
Most states do not routinely hold people in jail without charge during the mental health civil commitment process. At least 12 states and the District of Columbia have outright banned the practice. And in 2023, only one Mississippi prison was certified by the state to house people awaiting court-ordered psychiatric treatment.
Sheriffs have long decried the burden of jailing people with mental health concerns as inappropriate and dangerous, but have generally supported changing the law.
“It’s great for the sheriffs, because they don’t want to put sick people in jail,” said Will Allen, an attorney with the Mississippi Sheriffs Association. “They certainly don’t want to put people in prison who haven’t committed a crime.”
But enforcing the law has proven difficult for resource-limited areas of the state, especially those without nearby crisis stabilization units that provide short-term treatment for people in mental crisis. .
Additionally, even in resource-rich areas, crisis beds are limited and counties are reluctant to transport patients or admit patients to nearby private treatment facilities at the county’s expense. It may be forced.
The restrictions on jail admissions have proven to be a “nightmare” for Calhoun County, which is more than 30 miles from the nearest crisis stabilization unit, said Treasury Secretary Kathy Poyner.
“I don’t have anywhere else to put it,” she says. “We can’t afford psychiatric cells. Local counties can’t meet their financial obligations.”
Some supporters say the law’s provisions should be more closely supervised by the state.
Greta Martin, litigation director for the Mississippi Office of Disability Rights, said the lack of oversight in the law is concerning.
“If you enact a law that puts a 48-hour cap on people in county jails, and you don’t provide any oversight to ensure that county jails comply, what’s the point of that law? ” she said.
