FARMINGTON—The Davis County Jail has entered into an agreement with the Utah State Hospital to have a Competency Restoration Unit (CRU) onsite to house inmates who have been court ordered to the hospital to receive treatment to become competent to stand trial or face other charges. The State Hospital will pay for the 16-bed CRU at the jail whether the beds are filled or not. 

“They selected us because we have a clean, well-maintained facility,” said Davis County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Andrew Oblad. “We have the space and we’re centrally located.”

The benefit of them coming to Davis County is the hospital is spending more for a bed, he said. “This will bring $4.1 million into Davis County annually.”

The State Hospital will manage the CRU, Oblad said. “They’ll have a team of about five including a psychiatrist and provide small groups to receive treatment.”

Oblad said two DCSO deputies will be assigned to security for the CRU, he said. “They also requested that we have Crisis Intervention Training (CRT). That’s a reasonable request. We’re already doing it so that’s not a problem for us.”

The State Hospital is in Utah County, said Oblad. “The (jail) is a good option because Utah County is a long way and that can cause transportation issues. Logistically that can be a lot. It’s nice to have it here close.”

“Because of an increasing number of (court) referrals about nine or 10 years ago the State Hospital ran out of space,” said Jeremy Christensen, LCW, Assistant Superintendent Forensic Director at the Utah State Hospital, a part of the Department of Health and Human Services. “They have to stay here and have an evaluation before they can go to court. We had a waiting list of eight to 12 months.”

It became a civil liberty issue and the state was sued, he said. “As part of the agreement we had to reduce our waitlist to 14 days. As part of that our new model was sending them to incarceration where they could get competent.”

The model was discovered in Colorado, said Christensen. “It was successful. It was proposed that it was better than just taking a cell but getting an entire unit that is different from jail programming.”

It was set up about eight years ago in the Salt Lake County Jail, he said. “It cost $5 million just to staff 30 beds at the State Hospital. Patients would stay for a limited time at the jail and they could likely be restored in a short time. If it didn’t work then they could be transferred to the hospital. We were able to reduce the wait list from 12 months to 14 days.”

Davis County is the closest to Salt Lake County, Christensen said. “They are extremely amenable to mental health issues. They have the receiving center and there was interest when they started the program eight years ago. We wanted them to have CIT training and they already had that established.”

The hospital was getting a steady stream of referrals from the courts, he said. “We have no way to fix that but we didn’t have the resources. Through the combined efforts of the legislature, community partners and jails it allowed us time to get an extra 30 beds.”

The governor prioritized more beds across the state, said Christensen. “At our primary location we will have a new building with at least 60 beds. That should be in the next three years.”

The law only allows 60 days for restoration, he said. “We’re already a month in because we need time to assess, etc. If we see them in the jail they can transition much more quickly. It's a lower expense with a positive outcome.”

Once they’re found competent the court normally has them transported to the jail they were originally in for trial, said Christensen. “Some judges will give them time served if they’ve been in custody for a long time.”

If someone is found guilty with a mental health condition but they’re competent it allows the court and community to provide mental health services, he said. “If they are in treatment and they are successful after a year, the charges could be dropped two full steps. They can also get those services in jail.”

Christensen said they’ve had a wonderful partnership with the Davis County Jail. “We’re excited for the opportunity to be in the Davis County complex.”