Mental Health Task Force Gather to Solidify Policy Proposals

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A task force studying issues surrounding mentally ill people entering the criminal justice system in South Dakota is meeting again to solidify its policy recommendations.

The Argus Leader reports the task force is gathering Thursday in Pierre to go over a number of proposed policies that could be implemented in the state.

South Dakota Supreme Chief Justice David Gilbertson co-chairs the group, which he proposed after the newspaper reported that a backlog of mental competency evaluations of criminal suspects is taxing county budgets and raising concerns about the rights of defendants.

The group has so far considered doubling down on training for police officers, adding treatment as a condition of some bonds and placing a cap on the wait time for the mental competency evaluations.

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