Shasta County Main Jail (Jail) continues to incarcerate individuals charged with a misdemeanor who cannot be adjudicated due to a finding of incompetent to stand trial’ due to their current mental health condition. These individuals would often benefit from administration of psychotropic medications, and designating the Jail as a treatment facility, pursuant to California Penal Code (PC) Section 1369.1, would allow such treatment to be provided.
Alleged felony offenders who are deemed incompetent to stand trial are sent to the state hospital to be restored to competency at the state’s expense, however, restoring misdemeanor offenders to competency to stand trial is a County responsibility. Due to changes in the criminal justice system, including Assembly Bill 109 and Proposition 47, counties throughout the state are experiencing higher incidents of misdemeanor offenders in Jail with mental illness who have been found to be incompetent to stand trial. This finding often prevents the legal process from moving forward.
Offenders often refuse the most vital part of treatment that can return them to competency and allow the judicial process to move forward: medications. Ideally these individuals would be transferred to an appropriate treatment setting, including either a psychiatric hospital or mental health rehabilitation facility, where medications and counseling can be provided. However, there continues to be a critical shortage of these treating facilities, and they remain untreated and in Jail awaiting transfer.
Upon concurrence of the County Board of Supervisors, the County Mental Health Director, and the County Sheriff, and pursuant to PC Section 1369.1, the Jail may be designated to provide medically approved medication to offenders found to be mentally incompetent and unable to provide informed consent due to mental disorder. PC Section 1369.1 also allows for the involuntary administration of antipsychotic medications to persons found Incompetent to Stand Trial pursuant to a court order. The maximum amount of time an offender may be treated in the Jail cannot exceed six months.
As designated treatment facilities pursuant to PC Section 1369.1 the Jail will be allowed to administer approved psychiatric medications rather than waiting for the availability of a locked psychiatric facility for treatment. Benefits of this process include expedited treatment for offenders, faster restoration to competency to stand trial which can reduce Jail space demand, as well as cost savings by not having to place offenders in secure facilities outside of the Jail. Shasta County continues to improve its continuum of care for those with mental illness, and the ability to begin vital medications while in Jail will be an improvement to current procedures.