State hospital chief outlines why forensic admissions and discharges are delayed, points to paperwork and benefit gaps

Laurie, who identified herself as the chief responsible for five state hospitals, told the Baltimore County coordinating council that admission and discharge timing is driven by legal triage, charge level and bed availability, not simply administrative delay. She said court orders come through MDEC and OSEP, then are tagged and placed on a wait list; high‑felony charges are routed to Perkins, which has a small number of maximum‑security beds and creates a bottleneck for those patients.

Laurie cited the Maryland appellate decision Hawkes v. Maryland to explain a key constraint: “the plan that the doctor signs off on has to mitigate the risk,” she said, meaning hospitals must document how returning someone to the community will not create unacceptable risk. That requirement, she said, can lengthen discharge planning for people…