BY AMIRA VAN LEEUWEN
The public defender’s office impact in Hays County
How it’s going
Looking ahead
Felony cases
Misdemeanor cases
Since its inception, the public defender’s office has opened a total of 1,540 cases and closed 867. The MHC has also graduated 15 individuals thus far. Brown said they expect to graduate seven more individuals in December. The primary goal of the MHC is to link individ- uals with services that will help them continue to live and work in the community and not return to jail, Brown said. “So far we’ve had a great deal of success with that, and we hope to continue to have that success,” she said. She said they see criminal trespassing and crimi- nal mischief misdemeanor charges, and sometimes even felony assaults, but they are often able to get individuals out of jail a little faster by having them come into the MHC as a condition of their bond. As part of its program evaluations, MHC sched- ules follow-ups with individuals three months, six months, one year and two years after graduation. Mental Health Court Administrator Kaimi Mattila
NDS would like to continue building out legal resources for their clients and work to identify more individuals for the county’s Mental Health Court. Brown said the county was exploring the possibility of having a True Diversion Program so individuals who have mental health issues can be diverted to another facility as opposed to going to jail. “We would be working with judicial services to identify those individuals that might be able to just be diverted into a different track, and if they complete the program on that certain track, then their charges are dismissed,” Brown said. MHC, the district attorney’s office and Pretrial Services—also known as Judicial Services—are also discussing implementing a True Diversion Program for misdemeanor cases, Brown added.
Cases opened
Cases closed
42%
51%
58%
49%
NOTE: CASE DATA AS OF OCT. 23 SOURCE: NEIGHBORHOOD DEFENDER SERVICE/COMMUNITY IMPACT
said the MHC has a 94% success rate, and they have noticed a reduction in symptoms, more secure employment and better housing. “We have seen no recidivism here in Hays County, so no person that has graduated from our program has picked up another misdemeanor or a felony in Hays County,” Mattila said. NDS Managing Attorney Jeff Hohl said the MHC has been a “fantastic” resource for the public defender’s office, and they are always working to identify clients who can benefit from the program.
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