KSTP: Hennepin County Takes Steps to Keep Mental Health Patients Out of Jail

“Right now, anyone diagnosed with a severe mental health condition cannot be charged with a misdemeanor,” Stanek said. “But, if they are arrested on a misdemeanor they are brought to jail and sometimes they sit there for months, not charged with a crime, while they wait for a bed to open at a secure mental health facility and that is not fair to them or anyone because they need treatment and they cannot get that in jail.”

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