Georgia judge holds state in contempt as competency jail backlog grows
An investigative report co-published by The Current GA and KFF Health News detailed a judicial contempt finding against Georgia's Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities after it missed a court-ordered deadline to transfer an 18-year-old defendant for restoration treatment. At the time, 368 people statewide were awaiting restoration and more than 900 were awaiting evaluation, with waits averaging roughly ten months.
The case illustrated how an individual contempt ruling can surface a much larger systemic backlog — one that would eventually lead the state into a formal pre-litigation agreement with advocacy groups four years later.
Source: Long Wait for Justice: People in Jail Face Delays for Mental Health Care Before They Can Stand Trial — KFF Health News (with Georgia Health News), by Andy Miller and Rebecca Grapevine
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