By Emma Murphy, Oklahoma Voice
OKLAHOMA CITY — Attorneys representing plaintiffs in a competency restoration settlement agreement are asking a judge to fine the Oklahoma Mental Health Department $10,000 a day for failing to meet required benchmarks.
The Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services hasn’t met the required terms of the settlement yet, according to a September report from court-appointed consultants. This included providing consultants with “incomplete and internally conflicting” data, submitting plans missing essential information, and not demonstrating “true urgency” in carrying out the consent decree.
The consent decree settled a 2023 lawsuit that alleged the Mental Health Department violated the rights of mostly indigent defendants who had been declared incompetent to stand trial by failing to provide timely court-ordered competency restoration treatment. The Legislature approved the settlement in March.
Attorneys representing the plaintiffs filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma on Monday.
Paul DeMuro, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, said it’s been seven months since the consent decree’s entry and four months past the deadline for the agency to have a plan to implement the consent decree’s requirements.
“It wasn’t like (the consent decree) appeared out of thin air,” DeMuro said. “… What it boils down to is the department is treating this consent decree as if it were merely suggestions, as opposed to a federal court order.”
Hundreds of people are still “suffering” while awaiting treatment in custody, he said. This creates mental health emergencies, risk of physical harm and “ongoing violation of their due process rights,” DeMuro said.
The plaintiffs’ request includes asking a judge to hold a hearing, impose a fine of $10,000 a day until an approved plan is implemented by the Mental Health Department, and ordering the agency to have one representative responsible for overseeing compliance.
“Nothing motivates more than money,” DeMuro said. “So the fine is intended to motivate the department to get a plan together.”
The agency representative would offer “institutional knowledge” despite any leadership turnover, he said. Multiple agency heads have already been involved with the consent decree, DeMuro said.
If ordered by the court, the requested fine would continue until the Mental Health Department develops and implements a plan that complies with the consent decree.
“When this lawsuit was filed in March 2023, the Class Members were already suffering and in crisis due to unconstitutionally prolonged wait times for restoration services while languishing in county jails,” according to the motion. “More than two and one-half years later, due to Defendants’ willful failure to develop and implement the Court-ordered Plan, Class Members’ suffering persists with no relief in sight.”
The settlement is expected to cost between $26 million and $45 million over three to five years, depending on the agency’s ability to provide competency restoration services on a set timeline, as required.
The Mental Health Department requested $17 million from the Legislature for next budget year to implement the consent decree and to cover any related fines for noncompliance.
A spokesperson for the Mental Health Department did not immediately return a request for comment.
