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A Handbook for Developing a Mental Health Court Docket

Mental health courts focus on the treatment and rehabilitation of offenders with a history of serious mental illness, which is oftentimes the root cause of the person’s criminal involvement. Some of the goals of mental health court dockets include:

  • Diverting non-violent offenders out of the traditional criminal justice track
  • Reducing the length of confinement for offenders with serious mental illness
  • Improving the mental health and well-being of the participants
  • Increasing access to treatment services
  • Creating effective working relationships between the treatment and criminal justice systems
  • Improving public safety by reducing recidivism
  • Relieving jail and prison overcrowding

The Specialized Dockets Section’s A Handbook for Developing a Mental Health Docket offers guidance for judges on assessing the need for the docket, determining which type of docket works best, identifying personnel and resource issues and evaluating the program.

A Handbook for Developing a Mental Health Court Docket is available by contacting the the Specialized Docket Section at 614.387.9425 or by e-mail: specdocs@sc.ohio.gov.

Mental Health
Mental Health

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