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Superior Court seeks full-time mental-health-court director, warns of capacity limits
Summary
Superior Court leaders asked the council to fund making the treatment-court director full time and to expand case-management capacity, saying the mental-health court cannot accept new applicants under current staffing and certification limits and that a state grant would offset part of the cost.
Superior Court representatives, led by Bob Tigman and Chief Judge Scott Shively, asked the Vanderburgh County Council on Aug. 15 to approve budget changes to expand the county's mental-health court. The presenters said the program has operated since 2013 but is now at capacity and cannot accept new applicants under current certification rules.
"We can't take any new applicants or new people who need services because we are at max capacity under the regulations we're required to comply with to meet certification," Tigman said, adding that the court concentrates on low-level felony offenders with diagnosed mental illnesses.
The request in the hearing record included making the part-time mental-health court director a full-time position (the rationale sheet shows a line for a $75,000 salary plus benefits), with a state grant expected to cover $55,000 this year. Tigman also asked to convert a part-time case manager (previously funded by Southwestern Indiana Mental Health Center) to full time and listed a rationale amount of $31,200 for that position; he said final reimbursement amounts for that role are not yet known.
A separate request for a probation officer position (object code discussed at about $60,000 in the rationale) was discussed and then withdrawn from the current submission; Tigman said the court can adjust internal staffing in the short term by moving a vacant juvenile-court bailiff to cover misdemeanor needs while it arranges longer-term staffing.
Tigman characterized the mental-health court as essential rather than discretionary and said any grant or reimbursement monies received would be applied to offset county expense. Council members asked for clarification on object codes, which Tigman and staff agreed to provide before final budget action.
No formal vote occurred at the hearing; council staff were asked to reconcile the rationale lines with the budget book and to circulate corrected object-line information to council members.
