The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas and the National Police Accountability Project are suing Kansas over delays in mental health evaluations at the chronically understaffed Larned State Hospital. The class action lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court, says individuals who face criminal charges have had to wait behind bars for as long as 13 months before getting a pretrial competency evaluation. In some cases, that is more than the time they would serve if they were convicted. The state hospital has been a flashpoint of controversy for years because of long wait lists for mental health treatment. The ACLU said the facility only fills 65 of its 120 beds because it lacks the staffing to cover shifts in the unit, and more than 100 people are currently on the waiting list.
Source: www.chanute.com
