JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri’s top judge is asking the General Assembly for more mental health resources and security services for juvenile detention facilities.
In the annual State of the Judiciary speech, Missouri Chief Justice Mary Russell said jails have become the state’s largest mental health facilities. She said some inmates wait months for a mental competency assessment, which is why she told lawmakers the state can no longer afford to kick the can down the road.
“All areas of the state are in dire need of mental health services for defendants,” Russell told the House chamber Wednesday. “These problems compound in our communities, taking a toll on law enforcement officers, jails, our hospitals and our nursing homes as everyone struggles for solutions.”
According to the Department of Mental Health, nearly 300 people are waiting in jails to be transferred to a mental health treatment facility. The department’s director, Valerie Huhn, told the House budget committee this week that there will probably be 1,000 individuals long before the state is at 100 individuals waiting to be placed in a facility.
“That’s not how jails are designed, nor how their staff are trained,” Russell said. “Concrete cell blocks are not conducive for treating mental health or addiction issues.”
Russell said it’s time for the state to put mental health first because it’s not only adult inmates who need resources.
“The longer inmates with mental health problems remain detained without treatment or without being tried for a crime, let alone convicted, the worse they get,” Russell said. “There is a lack of available beds for juvenile offenders who need to be detained, especially outstate. Older, more streetwise youth are now being housed with younger juveniles, who I fear may not be learning good things from their older peers.”
She said more juveniles are being certified to stand trial as adults due to the seriousness of their alleged offenses. With more youth remaining in secure juvenile facilities until their cases in adult court are filed, Russell is asking for security and to rehabilitate the focus on the entire juvenile justice system.
The state’s top judge is also asking lawmakers to increase juror compensation. Russell said the statutory minimum of $6 a day and 7 cents per mile for travel has been in place for more than 30 years and courts continue to struggle to have enough jurors.
“These amounts have not been updated since at least 1989,” Russell said. “Judges are embarrassed to tell jurors these rates and one judge described the amounts as an insult to those who show up for jury service.”
One of the biggest ovations during the speech was a monumental moment for the state’s highest court after Gov. Mike Parson appointed two women late last year.
“For the first time in the history of our great state, we have a majority of female judges on our court,” Russell said. “Missouri’s high court is now one of only 15 in the nation with a female majority.”
Parson appointed Judge Ginger Gooch and Judge Kelly Broniec after Judges George W. Draper III and Patricia Breckenridge retired last year. Of the seven judges on the state’s highest court, four are women.
Russell also spent time in her speech pointing out that, as of this week, Missouri courts have reviewed more than 245,000 marijuana expungement cases to comply with Amendment 3 in the constitution, passed by voters in 2022. Of those cases, she said nearly 109,000 cases have been expunged.
