CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Judicial candidate Eric Yow recently announced that, if elected, he would like to establish a mental health court in Montgomery County.

Yow, who is running for as a Republican for General Sessions and Juvenile Court, Division II, has made mental health awareness – and the destigmatizing of mental illness – a central issue of his campaign.

“We can’t pretend anymore that everything is fine and perfect,” Yow said in an interview with Clarksville Now. “We are the fifth largest city in the state of Tennessee. We’ve certainly got the population and capacity. In my opinion, we definitely have the need for a mental health court, especially with the base here and the military population. We’ve got a need for it here.”

Clarksville Now reached out to Reid Poland, who is also running for the Republican nomination. He said that mental health is already well addressed by Montgomery County’s current system.

“Mental health should always be a consideration for all courts, and fortunately a majority of these needs are being met through our current judicial system. In Montgomery County we have two specialized courts that address these issues,” Poland said.

“It is no secret that multiple diagnoses go hand-in-hand with issues currently being addressed in these special courts. It would be irresponsible without first consulting our current judges, county government, and the cost to taxpayers, before launching recklessly into something handled in courts we currently have.”

What is mental health court?

Nine counties in Tennessee use mental health courts. If elected, Yow hopes to use those courts as a model for Montgomery County.

He compared the program to Montgomery County’s existing Veterans Treatment Court and Recovery Court.

Under such a program, certain qualifying offenders would be able to receive diagnosis and treatment while working towards reduced penalties, including the dismissal of charges, under the supervision of a presiding judge.

Qualifying offenders could include individuals suffering from conditions like schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder and depression as well as co-occurring substance abuse disorders.

Mark Winslow, executive director for Metro Nashville & Davidson County Mental Health Court, told Clarksville Now that their program helps repeat offenders escape the cycle of incarceration.

“In our case, we take misdemeanants. Most of our misdemeanants can range from DUIs, to trespass. They cycle through the justice system and really need the guidance and support,” Winslow said. “We gauge our success by whether or not they become reinvolved with the justice system within a year of their graduation. On that score, we have an 83% success rate.”

Participation in most programs is strictly voluntary, offering offenders a chance to receive the help they need while reducing the chance of future legal troubles.

“(Mental health courts) all have the same goal: to reduce recidivism, and try to keep people from reoffending and winding up in jail, keep people out and becoming healthy members of society,” Yow said.

Yow said he is still researching how a mental health court could best be implemented in Montgomery County, and that he has been in contact with mental health courts throughout the state to discuss possibilities.

Benefitting everyone

Offenders are not the only ones who could benefit from a mental health court, Yow said. By reducing recidivism rates locally, the county could save a significant amount of money that would otherwise be spent jailing people in need of mental healthcare. Mental health court could also assist in reducing jail overcrowding.

Even with the cost of treatment, Yow said his research has shown an overall savings for the county.

“I can tell you anecdotally, it is clear that (mental health court) decreases spending and is a positive benefit to the community,” Yow said. “What you’re analyzing is the cost of incarcerating a defendant in Montgomery County, which is easily quantifiable, and the cost of putting someone though the mental health court program.

“If you’re looking at an annual cost, you can do an apples to apples comparison, but the additional details are that if a person is out, they’re working as a condition of their probated sentence. They’re paying taxes, they’re shopping, they’re spending money, they’re a productive member of society. There are additional quantifiable benefits. I haven’t been able to put numbers to paper yet – we’re still early the development process, but in the other counties in Tennessee where this is done, it’s clear, it’s definitive, it’s cost effective.”

Yow added that federal and state funding may be available to help fund a mental health court, as well as private charities who could offer assistance.