Members of the Criminal Justice Mental Health Roundtable of Rutherford County are pushing for this program because they believe many jail inmates are needlessly serving time by committing crimes as a result of their mental illness.

Davidson County, which has the only mental health court in the state, has already seen 4,000 people complete its program, leading to a decrease in recidivism from 67 percent to 6 percent.

As proposed, the court would be placed under the authority of General Sessions Judge Larry Brandon, who would divert mentally ill individuals charged with a nonviolent crimes before they face a trial or conviction.

Brandon believes the program would be a good idea for several reasons. First, it would keep mentally ill patients out of the jail where medical bills total some $2 million annually. Primarily, though, it would find treatment for people who, otherwise, would serve 30, 60 or 90 days in jail and then go back out on the street where they would likely commit another crime, Brandon said.

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