BALTIMORE (AP) — A judge has ordered the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to present a plan later this month on admitting and treating criminal defendants found incompetent to stand trial.
The Daily Record reports (http://bit.ly/2sTfuZm) Baltimore City District Judge George Lipman wrote in his order issued Monday that 17 defendants had been illegally detained in the Baltimore City Detention Center between March 1 and May 31. Individuals not convicted of a crime that have been determined to be incompetent cannot be held in jail.
A DHMH spokesman said Tuesday that state officials have made progress in reducing the longstanding shortage of treatment beds at state hospitals, and will continue to partner with the courts to further reduce the backlog.
The department has been ordered to present a plan June 26.
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Information from: The Daily Record of Baltimore, http://www.thedailyrecord.com
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