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Utah Chief Justice urges treatment-first approach, expanded court-led mental-health coordination and asks for modest budget increase
Summary
Chief Justice Matthew B. Durrant told a joint convention the judiciary will convene stakeholders to coordinate mental-health treatment and court-based programs, highlighted drug- and mental-health-court successes, emphasized an access-to-justice gap, and requested roughly $1.2 million in ongoing funds plus $450,000 one-time for technology and staffing.
Chief Justice Matthew B. Durrant told a joint convention of Utah legislators that the state’s courts should play a convening role in coordinating local treatment, mobile crisis teams and receiving centers to keep people with mental illness out of jails and prisons.
In a wide-ranging State of the Judiciary address, Durrant praised judges and court staff, described the emotional impact of drug-court graduations and said treatment-based responses are central to the state’s criminal-justice reforms. He said the court system has about 17 mental-health courts and intends to bring…
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