Growing up in Neshoba County, 8th Circuit Court Judge Christopher Collins watched an important person in his life struggle with mental illness.

He recalled the difficulty of accessing treatment and the shame he saw in the community, observations that carried into his professional career. 

As he rose through the ranks to become one of the judges overseeing Leake, Neshoba, Newton and Scott Counties, Collins saw the toll mental health took on the lives of those who couldn’t afford treatment.

“It was everywhere I turned,” Collins said. “There had to be a way to have a community based justice system.”

In the 8th Circuit, Collins oversees the state’s largest and first certified drug court, which currently has more than 300 participants.

Drug courts aim to keep people struggling with addiction out of the criminal justice system. In addition to getting help for their addiction, participants are required to pay to enter the court, meaning the program is self-funded.

Collins quote

“There’s nothing more rewarding than my time in drug court… I see their skin change… the gleam into their eyes again. They regain custody of their children. They take pride in their jobs. I’m seeing victories everywhere.”

–Christopher Collins, 8th Circuit Court judge

Collins meets with the participants once a week, either at 7 a.m. or 4 p.m. on Tuesday and tries to guide them to a drug-free life.

“It’s more cost-effective than incarceration,” Collins said. “There’s nothing more rewarding than my time in drug court… I see their skin change… the gleam into their eyes again. They regain custody of their children. They take pride in their jobs. I’m seeing victories everywhere.”

An October 2016 conference in Reno, Nevada made Collins wonder if the same principle could be applied to mental health.

Collins asked Marcus Ellis, the Drug Court administrator, if a Mental Health Diversion Court was possible.

“Do you know what you’re asking for,” Ellis recalled asking Collins? “You don’t just start a court.”

Ellis has been part of the 8th Circuit Drug Court since “before day one” and oversees 336 participants. Having been a part of the beginning of the drug court, he knew they would need to get a local legislator to introduce a bill, speak to state Supreme Court justices and gain the support of local leaders.

“The problem is that people think of mental health as a nasty word,” Ellis said. “Because of the stigma, people won’t seek help. Even more so in small-town America, where you don’t want your neighbor to know.”

Ellis worked to get a bill introduced and the provision allowing for test mental health court diversion programs was tailored into the Rivers-McGraw Diversion Mental Health Act by the legislature in March of 2017.

Ellis quote

“The problem is that people think of mental health as a nasty word. Because of the stigma, people won’t seek help. Even more so in small-town America, where you don’t want your neighbor to know.”

–Marcus Ellis, drug court administrator

The program didn’t ask for funding (which could derail any legislative efforts), however, and stated it would rely on grants to start the program. As of March, the program hadn’t found applicable grants yet.

“We’re prepared to hit the ground when one is announced,” Collins said.

In terms of funding, the court will have to hire at least two new positions: a qualified clinician and another court coordinator, since Ellis said he couldn’t manage both courts.

Those positions would be paid roughly $65,000 or $50,000, respectively, and a doctor to write prescriptions would need to be available on an on-call basis.

Ellis estimates it would cost roughly $300,000-$400,000 in grant funding to start a mental health court.

Ellis and Collins audited courts across the county, including one in Covington, Louisiana. Since Louisiana is a state that voted to expand Medicaid, however, its funding structure differed.

That court ran as an adjudicated court, or one that convicted a person and then committed them to a mental health court.

Ellis and Collins determined they would function as a non-adjudicated court, or one that suspended a conviction while the person went through mental health court. If the participant failed, then they would be convicted. But if they succeeded, the charges would be dismissed.

“If we want people to move on with life and we give them a felony conviction, then we’ve branded them,” Ellis said.

Ellis, a retired Army intelligence officer, said he has high standards for his drug court. Participants must keep their hair neatly trimmed and keep clean. Ellis said this rigorousness, however, could be harmful to those with a severe mental illness.

“It was obvious when we visited (Covington) that this approach wouldn’t work,” Ellis said. “So we’ve got a lot to learn.”

Collins and Ellis plan to visit another mental health court in Auburn, Georgia in the upcoming months to get ideas and see their procedures.

“In a mental health court, your goal is to monitor people: make sure they’re on the appropriate medication, that they’re keeping up with their appointments and seeing professionals,” Collins said.

Still, both Ellis and Collins cautioned that a mental health court wouldn’t solve all the delays people with mental illnesses face in the justice system. Namely, violent offenders would be excluded from the program and those with severe mental illnesses who need the structured treatment offered at the psychiatric hospital in Whitfield.

“The public needs to know that this is not a get-out-of-jail-free card,” Ellis said. “And this is not a dumping ground.”

Instead, Ellis said it would get people services for mental health issues and hold them accountable for their actions.

Eventually, Ellis said he hoped correctional officers in local jails would be trained to recognize the signs of a possible mental illness and refer them for evaluation for the mental health diversion court.

Still, the biggest hurdle, funding, remains to be conquered.

“If we can engage, we can keep people from getting stuck in that revolving door of recividism,” Collins said. “It is our hope that maybe funding will incrementally come.”