The Vanderburgh County Superior Court Mental Health Court has set its first graduation date for Thursday, December 04, 2014 at 3:30 pm. The graduation will take place in the Court Building (825 Sycamore Street) in Room 110. The Mental Health Court will graduate two participants in its inaugural session and it is open to the public.
The program itself was started in September of 2013 by Magistrate Jill Marcrum with the authority of the Vanderburgh Superior Court Judges. Magistrate Marcrum was assisted by Vanderburgh Superior Court Judges, The Southwestern Indiana Mental Health Center, Echo, Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office, Evansville Police Department, Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office, Vanderburgh County Public Defender’s Office and NAMI.
It takes an enrollee a minimum of 12 months to complete this program, and there are currently 17 participants in the program. To enroll in the Mental Health Court, someone must have committed a crime and have a diagnosed mental illness. Additionally, that mental illness had to play a part in the criminal action. The goals of the court are to increase public safety for communities, increase treatment engagement by participants, improve quality of life for participants and create more effective use of resources for sponsoring jurisdictions resulting in overall governmental savings.
Vanderburgh County Deputy Prosecutor Anna Finnerty said of the program: “This is a big step for our community and the way justice is handed down. There was a large culmination of people who recognized there was a need for a program like this and Magistrate Marcrum set up a way for us to put it together. When investigating any case, we look at all facts and circumstances of a situation at hand. We recognized that the mental health of a person can be a factor when a crime is committed and this court recognizes that and works to find both appropriate and corrective punishment for the nature of the crimes committed.â€
For further information, please contact Kyle Phernetton at 812.435.5688 or via e-mail at kphernetton@vanderburghgov.org
