St. Mary’s County backs amicus brief to push faster transfers of incarcerated people needing state mental-health care

Commissioners of St. Mary’s County voted Dec. 2 to support an amicus brief urging faster transfers of people committed to state mental hospitals, following testimony that county detention facilities are increasingly functioning as de facto mental‑health institutions.

Morton Thompson, the presenter identified in the transcript, told the commission that local detention centers “have become de facto mental health institutions and are not designed, equipped, or staffed with the resources of mental health institution[s],” and described delays in court‑ordered transfers. He said Maryland law requires the Department of Health to accept court‑ordered commitments within 10 business days. Thompson reported that the county’s average transfer time to state hospitals was about 45 days, that waits for Clifton T. Perkins often exceed 120 days, and that four of six people committed to the state were awaiting transfer to Perkins.

Why it matters: County officials said the delay places clinical and operational strain on local detention centers, which are not configured to provide inpatient psychiatric care. Commissioners and staff questioned whether accelerating transfers would immediately resolve placements given state capacity and staffing constraints.

Commission discussion focused on destination capacity and potential outcomes if the litigation is successful. One commissioner asked, “So by accelerating this process, where will these people go if there’s not a bed at Perkins?” Thompson responded that the system is bottlenecked, citing pandemic‑era demand and staffing shortages at state facilities, and said the state is considering closures that could compound capacity issues.

Action taken: A commissioner moved to support the amicus brief being prepared by the Anne Arundel County Office of the County Attorney on behalf of the Maryland Correctional Administrators Association and to authorize the commissioner president or county attorney to execute related documents. The motion passed as recorded on the transcript (ayes; no roll‑call tally provided). The motion’s text, as stated, asked county leadership to sign on to the brief to press for transfers consistent with existing Maryland law.

Next steps: The transcript indicates staff will proceed with signature/authorization as appropriate. The brief is being prepared by Anne Arundel County and the county attorney’s office will execute documents if needed. The commission did not record a roll‑call vote in the excerpt provided.

Sources and limitations: The statements summarizing transfer times, the percentage of detained people with identifiable mental‑health needs (reported as approximately 72%), and the proportion in the most severe category (about 20%) were made by the presenter during Q&A. The commission’s recorded action is limited to support for the amicus brief; it did not direct a separate county funding or program change in the transcript excerpt.