STATE TASK FORCE ON INDIGENT DEFENSE AWARDS GRANTS TO FORT BEND COUNTY

Fort Bend County, TX- The Task Force on Indigent Defense, meeting in Austin, awarded $512,824 to Fort Bend County to establish a Mental Health Public Defender’s Office to serve indigent defendants with mental illness.  The Mental Health Public Defender’s Office is a part of a larger effort to identify the mentally ill early in the judicial process.  It is a proactive initiative to take steps to provide appropriate treatment in an effort to reduce the ongoing cycle of arrest-incarceration-release arising from improper diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.

Championed by District Judge Brady Elliott, County Court at Law Judge Bud Childers and the Council of Judges, this initiative aims to identify the mentally ill as they enter the judicial system at the county jail, then divert them into a judicial process tailored to address the underlying mental illness as well as the charges for which they have been arrested.  Judges Elliott and Childers both agree that this program will emphasize efficiency and help address the treatment and supervision needs of mentally ill criminal defendants ensuring that they get the professional care they need.

“Mentally ill defendants present special challenges to their attorneys, as well as to the criminal courts system,” said Sharon Keller, presiding judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals and Task Force chair. “The specialized skills and support services that will be developed for the Ft. Bend mental health public defender office will help assure better outcomes for the clients and the community as a whole.”

Staffed with attorneys, caseworkers and social workers, the office will represent defendants with mental illness in misdemeanor cases and coordinate the appointment of attorneys for felony cases. The program will help connect them to available services and treatment options. The office also will seek solutions to get and keep defendants with mental illness out of the criminal justice system.  County Judge Bob Hebert stated, ” I am pleased with the grant. It will go a long way toward protecting the constitutional rights of the mentally ill by providing them with specialized legal counsel and access to facilities and treatments that should reduce their involvement with the criminal justice system in the future.”

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