Lawsuit alleges state left people deemed incompetent to stand trial in jail without treatment
By Cherisse Halsall
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Missouri (KOMU) — The MacArthur Justice Center, ArchCity Defenders and the ACLU of Missouri filed a class action lawsuit against the Missouri Department of Mental Health on Monday, claiming the agency failed to provide legally required treatment for pretrial detainees living with serious mental illness and disabilities.
The groups filed the federal lawsuit in the Central Division of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. The lawsuit alleges the department left hundreds of Missouri residents deemed incompetent to stand trial in county jails without treatment.
Missouri law requires courts to receive competency evaluations within 60 days of an order, but advocates said the process often takes about six months. Nearly 500 people deemed incompetent to stand trial remain in jail without treatment while awaiting transfer to Department of Mental Health facilities, according to the lawsuit. On average, detainees wait 14 months before receiving restoration treatment, and some remain incarcerated longer than the maximum sentence they would face if convicted, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit lays out the following argument: The department’s own legislative testimony showing the waitlist for competency services increased by a third since September 2024 and nearly 88% since September 2023. As of May 5, 230 people waited in jail for evaluations, while another 430 detainees already ruled incompetent waited for court-ordered treatment. By October, the number of people waiting for restoration treatment reached nearly 500.
The lawsuit seeks court intervention to require the Missouri Department of Mental Health to provide timely evaluations and treatment for people deemed incompetent to stand trial.
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