Federal judge preliminarily approves Oklahoma competency consent decree despite state objections
The decree in Briggs v. Slatton-Hodges would require the mental health department to submit a plan within 90 days and to set up outpatient restoration programs in Tulsa, Oklahoma, McIntosh and Muskogee counties. Defendants currently wait up to a year for transport to the Oklahoma Forensic Center in Vinita because of bed shortages.
Gov. Kevin Stitt and Commissioner Allie Friesen said the terms would create excessive expense. The decree also requires the state to seek legislation permitting outpatient restoration, which Oklahoma law currently bars.
The ruling signaled the court was ready to impose structure on a system that the state had resisted changing.
Source: Disputed Oklahoma mental health decree secures preliminary approval — KOSU, by Sierra Pfeifer
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