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House Bill 240 would eliminate the 20-day requirement to
transfer mentally ill inmates to Department of Human Services
facilities. The measure also essentially would shield the state
from a lawsuit filed by county sheriffs in an effort to prevent
mentally ill defendants from sitting in county jails for months
without proper treatment.
When a court orders a criminal defendant unfit for trial, state
law requires the detainees to be transferred to state custody
for a fitness evaluation within 20 days. That has not been done
on time, in part because of monthly executive orders the
governor first issued and modified in April 2020.
State Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, said county jails
around Illinois don’t have the resources to deal with inmates
who have severe mental health issues.
“To create a piece of legislation that causes people that need
mental health treatment now to not get that and not have any
timeline that is firm that says to DHS that you have to get this
person out of local custody is a disgrace,” McClure said.
The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Ann Gillespie, D-Arlington
Heights, said during debate the bill would create more
opportunities for DHS to free up beds in psychiatric hospitals
for jail inmates, but admitted more needs to be done.
“With regard to trying to solve all of the mental health crisis,
nobody in this room disagrees that we have a mental health
crisis we need to solve, but we can’t let perfection be the
enemy of the good,” Gillespie said.
The Senate passed the bill and sent it to the House, which
concludes the lame duck session on Wednesday
Kevin Bessler reports on statewide issues in
Illinois for the Center Square. He has over 30 years of
experience in radio news reporting throughout the Midwest.
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