A consent decree drafted to improve mental health services in Oklahoma county jails would violate state law, a federal judge ruled late Friday.
As a result, U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frizzell has given attorneys until Sept. 13 to submit an amended consent decree proposal to address his concerns.
Many states have struggled to provide timely, efficient competency evaluation and restoration services for mentally ill defendants facing criminal charges.
In Oklahoma, a lawsuit against the Department of Mental Health is forcing the state to improve its process. The lawsuit alleges due to a lack of forensic beds, detainees declared incompetent in state court criminal proceedings are forced to wait prolonged periods to receive restoration services. They also receive little to no mental health treatment during the wait.
To settle the lawsuit, a consent decree was drafted by Attorney General Gentner Drummond’s office and attorneys for the case’s plaintiffs.
The judge’s concerns hinge on the consent decree’s plan to develop and implement a pilot restoration treatment program. He writes the program would violate state law because outpatient restoration services are not permitted in Oklahoma.
The program would prevent some detainees from making a trip to a state-run facility in Vinita to determine when they can be ruled competent to stand trial. Currently, under the custody of the Department of Mental Health, those deemed incompetent to stand trial are transported to the Oklahoma Forensic Center, which is located in Vinita, about 65 miles northeast of Tulsa.
The forensic center is Oklahoma’s only facility for competency restoration services in an inpatient setting, serving all of Oklahoma’s 77 counties with 200 beds. An expansion of the facility that will add 80 more beds is currently under construction.
The proposed program is designed to provide community-based, outpatient restoration treatment to qualifying defendants in two counties, one of which is Tulsa.
“Whether Oklahoma should permit outpatient competency restoration treatment services to persons charged with a crime, declared incompetent by a state-court judge, and incarcerated at a county jail or similar detention facility is best left to the judgment of the Legislature, not this court,” Frizzell wrote in his order.
The consent decree has been a source of debate since it was drafted. The day before Frizzell ruled, Gov. Kevin Stitt sent him a letter expressing multiple concerns about the decree.
The letter followed a meeting held by Stitt, where he, along with the commissioner for the Department of Mental Health Allie Friesen and Speaker Charles McCall (R-Atoka), discussed the high cost of implementing the consent decree. Friesen also argued the settlement would take away a clinician’s ability to make decisions about care placement and process and put that power in the hands of attorneys.
The Attorney General’s office was invited to the meeting but did not attend. Drummond has said multiple times if Oklahoma does not come to some sort of settlement, the state will lose the case in court.
In response to the Friday ruling, Drummond said the judge’s concerns “can and will” be addressed.
“Judge Frizzell asked for clarification on a specific issue regarding community-based placements. It is worth noting that neither Gov. Stitt nor ODMHSAS have ever complained about this aspect of the proposed consent decree,” Drummond said in a statement. “Despite what the Governor might think, the consent decree does not violate state law and was not rejected by the judge. This political theater is a distraction. My office will continue working toward an appropriate resolution on behalf of Oklahoma taxpayers.”
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