Panel backs bill letting Health Department contract with county jails to hold and treat mentally ill detainees

The Joint Judiciary Committee voted to sponsor 26LSO172 on a roll call after extended testimony and questioning about funding, staffing and legal authority.

Brian Fuller of the Legislative Service Office presented the draft to the panel, saying the bill "will authorize the Department of Health to enter into contracts with county detention centers for holding and treating mentally ill detainees before the completion of a competency evaluation or restoration of competency." Director Stefan Johansen of the Wyoming Department of Health told the committee the draft would give the department the statutory permission it lacks now to reimburse counties for housing and to fund higher reimbursement tiers for jails that provide active, jail-based treatment.

"We modeled out that potential appropriation, for the bill concept that we brought you, at about $2,500,000 per year, assuming an average of $230 per diem," Johansen said during his presentation. He described pilot telepsychiatry work in Laramie County and said some facilities had seen "optimistic signs" of stabilization and reduced staffing burden when additional treatment resources were available.

Sheriffs' organizations and county detention leaders told the committee they broadly support permissive contracting language but urged stable funding. Alan Thompson, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police, said sheriffs "ask that there be some sort of earmarked funding so that we're not in a position 6 months or 18 months into a 2-year cycle where funding is exhausted." Perry Rotfam, chief deputy and detention administrator for the Laramie County Sheriff's Office, said Laramie County had invested in remodeling and staffing and that forced medication and other on-site treatment had helped stabilize some very ill detainees.

Committee members pressed the director on the difference between this approach and treatment courts, who would pay for any required capital improvements (the bill does not authorize capital construction), and whether the program would encourage the state hospital to offload responsibilities. Johansen said the department still sees operating the Wyoming State Hospital at full capacity as a priority and that the bill is meant to be a partnership to reduce wait lists and strain on the hospital, not a substitute for it.

After discussion about where an appropriation should appear (in the bill versus the department's budget request) and whether the governor should include funding as an executive exception, the committee voted to sponsor the bill. The roll call result reported by staff was 12 ayes, 1 no, 1 excused.

The committee recorded the sponsorship vote as a referral action; legislators signaled they expect continued negotiations about appropriation language and the terms of any county contracts.

The department and sheriffs said they will continue pilot work and return to the committee with implementation details if the bill advances.