Nashville judge opens incompetency docket after dozens of charges dismissed against defendants found incompetent
NewsChannel 5 reported that between January 2020 and June 2021, 182 people in Davidson County were declared not competent to stand trial, according to figures compiled by Judge Melissa Blackburn's office. One-third were homeless and two-thirds were re-arrested within three months, in some cases after repeated minor arrests, including a man arrested more than 150 times.
Blackburn said a $600,000 grant from Metro let the court set up a specialized incompetency docket so people found incompetent are no longer simply released. So far that year, 75 new people had been found incompetent and had been arrested more than 260 times combined, and a shortage of beds at state psychiatric hospitals was making treatment hard to arrange.
The story ties the county's revolving-door problem to the limits of the state's competency and treatment system.
Source: Dozens of people found 'incompetent to stand trial' have criminal charges dropped — NewsChannel 5 (WTVF), Nashville, by Ben Hall
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