State Supreme Court Chief Justice David Thomson

By DANIEL J. CHACÓN
The Santa Fe New Mexican

The Administrative Office of the Courts drew praise from lawmakers Thursday for the progress it has made in implementing pilot projects designed to expand the availability of involuntary mental health treatment.

During last year’s special session, the Legislature ignored much of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s legislative agenda, which included changes to the state’s criminal competency and civil commitment statutes.

But lawmakers did appropriate $3 million for the courts to implement so-called assisted outpatient treatment — in a nutshell, court-ordered mental health treatment for adults with a mental disorder who have a history of not complying with voluntary treatment — in three judicial districts and support an already-existing program in the 4th Judicial District.

State Supreme Court Chief Justice David Thomson told members of the House Judiciary Committee and a handful of senators who joined the meeting the first pilot project in the First Judicial District, which covers Santa Fe, Rio Arriba and Los Alamos counties, got off the ground Thursday.

“The First [Judicial District] is the design by which we envision this going across the state,” he said.

Both during the committee meeting and during a joint session earlier in the day, Thomson provided lawmakers a timeline that included receiving funding in August 2024, hiring experts for technical assistance, hosting stakeholder meetings in October and developing policies and procedures and training new staff in December. At the beginning of this year, he said the courts secured treatment providers and attorneys and finalized the referral process.

“What we’re doing with [assisted outpatient treatment] not only supports that particular process, but it also supports other behavioral health processes, including competency diversion,” he said.

Senate Majority Floor Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, called Thomson’s report “very positive”.

“One of the things that we on the legislative side knew had to happen was putting in place the infrastructure so that when we make changes during this session, we’re not waiting the eight months, the six months, whatever this has been, to just get out of the gate,” he said.

Wirth noted the $3 million appropriated during the special session in July was one-time money.

“I do want to just give you a commitment that we are going to work hard to turn these dollars into recurring dollars so that as you build this out, you’re able to hire the folks that can do this on a longer term basis,” he said.

House Majority Floor Leader Reena Szczepanski, also a Santa Fe Democrat, said she was “very impressed with the speed” at which the courts have “stepped up to the plate.”

“We all see a lot of folks in our communities that need help, and it is wonderful to see the courts stepping up to do their piece of this,” she said. “It’s one piece in a big system.”