Dallas commissioners considers suing Texas over inmate wait times for state hospital beds

Dallas County commissioners are floating the idea of suing the state over the long wait times to get state psychiatric beds for mentally ill inmates. Hundreds of inmates are languishing for months — or even years — in the jail after having been determined to be incompetent to stand trial, meaning they are unable to understand the proceedings against them. Courts have determined that to preserve the right of due process, efforts to restore competency to these inmates must be made before a trial can proceed. They should be transferred to state facilities for that to happen. In a regularly scheduled commissioners court meeting on Tuesday, commissioners approved a letter to send to the state asking for help, but some felt that wasn’t enough. Commissioner John Wiley Price said he knows there is apprehension from others, but getting the state to act may require a lawsuit.

Commissioner Elba Garcia asked how likely private hospitals would be to jump in without state assistance to help alleviate the wait times for these offenders, insinuating that it was not likely. Seeing one course of action as the most likely to force action, Price replied: “It’s called a lawsuit.” “We have been asking, but asking is not getting the job done,” Commissioner Theresa Daniel said. “A lawsuit steps it up just a little bit.” Garcia said a lawsuit would not necessarily solve the problem, and she wants action as soon as possible. “I’m not against suing the state. I just know we are going to be there forever [waiting for state action] and nothing is going to be solved,” Garcia said. A lawsuit against the state would require the approval of three of the five members to move forward. Garcia referenced The Dallas Morning News’ coverage of one inmate who has been in the county jail for more than five years without a trial to explain her urgency. “How can it be that one person can be five years in and out of the Dallas County jail and still not be competent to stand trial?” she said. “Those are the issues that are true injustices.” In July, the county’s average wait time for a state psychiatric hospital bed was longer than that of any other urban county in Texas, with some waiting more than 800 days for hospital admittance, according to state data. The average wait time for those facing nonviolent charges was 160 days; for those facing violent charges it was 330 days.