Nevada Supreme Court upholds $500-a-day fines against state over delayed treatment of incompetent defendants
The Nevada Independent reported that the state Supreme Court, in an opinion by Justice Linda Bell, unanimously upheld contempt orders requiring the Division of Public and Behavioral Health to pay $500 a day for each criminal defendant whose transfer to a psychiatric facility exceeds the seven-day window. The case began in the Eighth Judicial District Court in Las Vegas and involved 11 defendants.
At publication, 139 defendants were awaiting transfer to facilities with a combined 199 beds, and typical waits were 90 to 120 days. The article traces the problem to a 2005 lawsuit settled with a one-week transfer requirement and says delays resumed after a consent decree expired in 2020.
The ruling cleared the way for the fines to continue and put the state's compliance problem squarely in front of lawmakers.
Source: NV Supreme Court upholds fines against state for delaying defendants' mental health care — The Nevada Independent, by Eric Neugeboren
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