Mental Health Court

Judge Simmons for Mental Health CourtThe Douglas County Mental Health Court began on August 19, 2014 with Judge Randolph Garrison and operates under the jurisdiction of the Douglas County Circuit Court.  Mental Health Court, with Honorable Judge Anne Marie Simmons, is a special pre and post sentencing alternative through the criminal justice system for people with mental illness accused of committing a crime.  The Douglas County Mental Health Court provides court oversight and a collaborative team approach to connect participants to mental health services and monitor their progress. Mental Health Court is generally available to any person accused or convicted of a crime, felony or misdemeanor, with some exceptions, and have a qualified mental health diagnosis.  Persons currently on probation may also enter the program either as a result of probation violation or by stipulation.

Participants are placed on supervised probation for 18-36 months depending on the offense for which they are sentenced. The goal is to reduce recidivism, incarceration and provide more positive outcomes for people with mental illness and mitigate risk to community safety by enhancing mental health treatment.  Adapt Integrated Health Care is the primary Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment provider and has a variety of programs available for substance abuse and addictions.  Adapt works closely in coordination with the court officials, law enforcement, mental health advocates, social service agencies and others to provide structured and judicially-supervised community-based treatment.

The Mental Health Court Team is comprised of the following agencies:

  • Douglas County Circuit Court
  • Umpqua Valley Public Defenders, Inc.
  • Douglas County District Attorney's Office
  • Douglas County Corrections Department (Parole and Probation)
  • United Community Action Network (UCAN)
  • Adapt Integrated Health Care
  • Veterans Administration
  • Umpqua Health Alliance
  • National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
  • Oregon Department of Human Services - Self Sufficiency and Child Welfare
  • Veterans Affairs

There are five phases to complete for Mental Health Court:

  • Phase 1: Engagement, duration of 4 weeks with court once a week.
    Goal: Identify needs and begin work on a treatment plan. 
  • Phase 2: Stability, duration minimum of 8 weeks with court once a week.
    Goal: Identify primary issues such as medications for mental health or substance abuse and create an intensive treatment plan to deal with primary issues.
  • Phase 3: Treatment, duration minimum of 12 weeks with court every 1-2 weeks.
    Goal: Implementation of treatment plan participants will engage in intensive mental health treatment in individual and group settings.
  • Phase 4: Support, duration minimum of 12 weeks with court every 2-3 weeks.
    Goal: To prepare the participant for independent living.
  • Phase 5: Aftercare, duration minimum 16 weeks with court every 3-4+ weeks.
    Goal: To keep in contact with participant through infrequent court appearances.

Once a participant has progressed to phase 5, graduation can be considered after being in phase 5 for at least 16 weeks, has been clean and sober for at least 6 months, has restitution paid off or has a payment plan in place, complete vocational rehab/be enrolled in school/be employed/has a steady form of income depending on treatment plan.

Upon successful completion of the terms and conditions of probation, a Mental Health Court participant may apply for expungement of the record of the offense, to the extent and in the manner provided by ORS 137.225 (as amended from time to time).

For more information about the courts, you can visit the State of Oregon Judicial Branch website.