Sangamon County amends request for restraining order against DHS
Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell has amended a lawsuit he filed last month against the Illinois Department of Human Services in response to a new executive order enacted after the lawsuit.
Sangamon County State's Attorney Dan Wright filed a motion Thursday in Sangamon County Circuit Court to amend a suit filed June 22 that accused the state and DHS of not complying with Section 104-17 of the Illinois Criminal Code, which sets a 20-day period for transporting inmates from county jails into state custody. Campbell was joined in the amended suit by the sheriffs of five other Illinois counties: Knox, Macon, Madison, McLean and Rock Island.
A hearing on the matter is scheduled for 3 p.m. Aug. 1.
The amendment was required due to Gov. JB Pritzker's signing of Executive Order 22-15 earlier this month that modified a pandemic-era order suspending the legal requirement for state agencies to transport inmates unfit for trial into state custody. The order kept in place the policy suspending the legal requirement; however, it also said that DHS could prioritize the admission of those who have serious mental health needs.
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The amendment said the order did not prove it was necessary to help combat the continued spread of COVID-19 or that compliance with state law would prevent dealing with the virus. Campbell accused the state of trying to cover up years of deficiencies that led to the kind of delays that he and other sheriffs across the state are dealing with.
In addition, he also accused the governor of negatively affecting their responsibilities by placing the burden of treating the inmates on them and forcing them to incur thousands of dollars in costs for having to house them longer than required.
"(The executive order) is an unlawful use of Governor J.B. Pritzker’s authority because it adversely affects the core responsibilities of the Plaintiff Sheriffs such as keeping the peace in their jail facilities, protecting all inmates and staff from the significant risks associated with long term housing of inmates with severe mental illness, enforcing the Code of Criminal Procedure, and defending the constitutional due process rights of inmates found unfit to stand trial," the lawsuit said.
"(This) was enacted as a pretextual attempt to protect DHS from then-existing and future contempt proceedings arising from the Department’s continued failure to timely admit accused individuals into its secure inpatient facilities for court-ordered restorative treatment. These failures have occurred prior to and since 2017, long before the spread of COVID–19."
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Additionally, Campbell accused DHS of preventing inmates from receiving needed psychiatric treatment and failing to develop an admission system that complies with state law and due process. He also said the criteria used in the modified order was arbitrary and had a negative impact on the due process of the inmates.
"Even if (the order) was lawful, Secretary (Grace) Hou is utilizing the “prioritization criteria” in an arbitrary and pretextual manner impacting the due process rights of accused individuals to avoid further contempt findings against DHS in courts across the state," the lawsuit said.
"Such exercise of unfettered administrative discretion results in a manifest injustice in the form of increased financial costs to Plaintiffs and their respective county governments, increased safety and security concerns for their jail personnel and other individuals being held in the jail, as well as due process concerns for the accused individuals whose acute mental illnesses decompensate as DHS admission delays continue in violation of the law."
The sheriffs are asking for the court to declare the new executive order unlawful, prevent the state from attempting to suspend state law in this manner, order DHS to comply with the law and implement new procedures to prevent delays from occurring in the future.
In a statement, DHS said that they are attempting to work with county officials statewide to try and admit patients into state facilities.
"At IDHS, we continue to work diligently and in good faith to admit patients in need of care in state psychiatric hospitals," the statement said. "We are working in partnership with many county officials in a constructive and collaborative way."
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Sangamon County amends request for restraining order against DHS
