Since a federal court ruled in 2015 that the state was failing to do timely competency evaluations related to court proceedings, the Washington Legislature has been trying to shore up the mental health part of the state’s legal system.
Gov. Jay Inslee this week signed a bill that takes the next step toward overhauling the system as required by the so-called Trueblood decision. Senate Bill 5440 will overhaul the competency system, improve the timeliness of evaluations and provide services to people in the legal system who are suffering from behavioral health disorders.
SB 5440 includes a number of new initiatives and rules. The new law requires jails to allow mental health providers to meet with defendants waiting in jail for competency restoration. It prohibits jails or juvenile detention centers from substituting or discontinuing an individual’s medication for a serious mental health disorder when they are medically stable on the medication. And it creates a way for someone with non-felony charges to get those charges dismissed so they can get mental health treatment outside of jail.
The state was fined $83 million before reaching an agreement to settle the Trueblood case in 2018. The process of overhauling Washington’s competency system has been an ongoing process – overseen by the federal courts – ever since.