Leon County Commissioners are having difficulty getting support to re-establish a mental health court.
The Leon County Court was de-funded last year but Commissioner Bill Proctor wants to bring it back.
“I was seeking that the County Commission would place the mental health court and other mental health services on the front end of our budgeting process and not to wait until October or November when we found out the funding is cut, there’s no funding, and last year we absolutely left the mental health court out of the budget,” Proctor said.
Nobody on the Leon County Commission is against the idea of having a judge and support staff dedicated to cases involving defendants with mental problems. But, most agree the real problem is money or the lack thereof. Commissioners Bryan Desloge and John Dailey say they’re all for the court’s return if there’s money to fund it. Meanwhile, Commissioner Nick Maddox is looking for a partner to foot the bill.
“I’m really gonna want to see some support from the city, from the courts. Not only in just letters of support saying: you guys should go ahead and fund this thing, but also pulling out their checkbooks,” Maddox said.
The Circuit Court has already denied the partnership, citing their own fiscal deficits, but the City Commission's position is up in the air. The County Commission is expected to send a formal letter to their City counterparts to ask for support.
Leon County’s mental health court has been around since 2003. The state awarded it a grant to keep it going for another three years in 2007. But, the court expired when the grant did last year. And now, as commissioners hammer out a proposed spending plan for the coming fiscal year, Commissioner Kristen Dozier admits the likelihood of reviving the court may be even worse than last year.
“I think everyone was supportive of the mental health court in general. But, it did come down to a question of how much we could fund given the $13 million short fall we saw last year and looking at this year where we may have the same or more or a greater deficit this year.”
The Leon County budget is expected to face another 4-to- 6 million dollar short fall this year, with or without the mental health court. The final budget must be locked down by August of this year