Committee approves bill letting Department of Health reimburse sheriffs for inmates awaiting forensic hospital care

The House Labor, Health and Social Services Committee on Thursday voted to pass Senate File 10, a bill that would let the Wyoming Department of Health contract with county sheriffs to reimburse costs for inmates held in local jails while awaiting transfer to the state hospital for forensic evaluation or restoration.

Art Washut, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, told lawmakers the measure grew out of complaints from sheriffs who said county jails were bearing the financial and operational burden while inmates waited months for admission to the state facility. "This bill creates a mechanism by which the Department of Health and individual sheriffs can enter into a contract so that the Department of Health can compensate those sheriffs for the time that these inmates are in their jail," Washut said.

The Department of Health’s director, Stefan Johansen, said the state hospital operates about 104 beds total, with roughly 28 designated for forensic (Title 7) patients, and that inpatient admissions have been slowed by growing court orders, limited bed capacity and staffing shortfalls. Johansen told the committee the department’s on‑the‑day wait list was about 31 people and estimated 80–100 individuals were "potentially in or adjacent to the Title 7 system." He also gave a high‑level recent average: "around 140 days" (a range of 140 to 160 days) for inpatient Title 7 waits.

Johansen described the bill as permissive rather than mandatory: it would allow the department to enter tiered per‑diem agreements that reflect the level of clinical care a county can provide. Counties that can provide on‑site treatment or partner with community providers could receive higher reimbursement; counties that can only provide a bed and security would be eligible for lower rates. He also described telepsychiatry pilots and diversion efforts already in place and said the policy aims both to offset jail costs and to reduce the state hospital wait list.

Law enforcement representatives urged the panel to approve the measure. Alan Thompson, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police, said the bill would let small jails and large facilities adopt differing contracts tied to capacity and capability and could reduce liability and use‑of‑force incidents by enabling earlier treatment in the community or the county jail.

Dan Shannon of the Department of Corrections noted an existing post‑conviction reimbursement model in which the corrections agency reimburses counties after 10 days for convicted inmates; he and other witnesses argued an earlier, treatment‑focused intervention for forensic patients could improve outcomes and reduce long‑term costs.

Committee members adopted a technical amendment to "insert requiring reports" and then approved the bill as amended on a roll‑call vote announced by the chair as 9 ayes. Johansen told the committee the Joint Appropriations Committee placed a $5,000,000 biennial footnote in the Department of Health budget to provide resources to support the elements of the bill, though the judiciary committee had removed a direct appropriation and left funding to the budget process.

The committee’s action allows counties and the Department of Health to negotiate reimbursement agreements under the statute’s permissive authority; it does not redirect existing Title 25 (civil commitment) reimbursement provisions, which Johansen said already permit payment to civilian psychiatric providers. The chair declared Senate File 10 passed committee.