South Dakota Courts Forms Task Force To Recommend Options For Reducing Wait Times For Mental Health Competency Evaluations

On December 29, 2015, the South Dakota court system announced it had formed a task force to recommend options for reducing wait times for mental health competency evaluations and restoration. During the past year, the court system ordered more than 120 competency evaluations, which is four times more than the 36 evaluations that the Human Services Center in Yankton, the state’s single inpatient mental health facility, says it will provide in 2016. Offenders ordered to receive a competency evaluation remained in jail until a bed at the state inpatient facility became available. Average wait times for a competency evaluation . . .