Alabama governor's budget proposes 96 more forensic beds at Taylor Hardin to meet Hunter consent-decree deadlines
Alabama Daily News reporter Mary Sell reports that the governor's spending proposal would add 96 beds at Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility, the state's 140-bed maximum-security hospital for defendants found incompetent to stand trial. A Department of Mental Health spokeswoman said the added capacity is needed to satisfy the Hunter v. Beshear settlement agreement.
That 2016 federal class action, brought with ACLU involvement, alleged that people waited an average of eight months in county jails for a place at Taylor Hardin, where they could receive competency restoration that jails cannot provide. The 2018 consent decree set shorter deadlines for evaluation and treatment, and the beds were part of the state's plan to meet them.
The proposal ran alongside a separate request for a North Alabama forensic laboratory and morgue, which is unrelated to the competency system.
Source: Ivey Budget Proposal Includes North Alabama Forensics Lab, Taylor Hardin Addition — BirminghamWatch (Alabama Daily News), by Mary Sell
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