Mental Health Jail Diversion Center to expand eligibility

The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney, the Tarrant County Sheriff and the Mental Health Jail Advisory Committee have recommended a plan to increase the use of the Diversion Center.

The plan would add more misdemeanor offenses eligible to be diverted and create a process to transfer individuals with those offenses before they are processed into the Tarrant County Jail.

Tarrant County Precinct 1 Commissioner Roy Charles Brooks, Chair of the Mental Health Jail Diversion Advisory Committee, said the committee signed off on adding other eligible offenses. The plan was presented and approved by the Tarrant County Commissioners Court on Tuesday.

“We have agreed on an expansion of charges that are acceptable for the Mental Health Diversion Center and found a way to transfer persons from the County Jail to the Diversion Center,” Brooks said. “It will make a huge difference in fulfilling the mission of the Diversion Center to the citizens of Tarrant County.”

Currently, criminal misdemeanor trespass is the only eligible offense for a detained individual to be taken to the Mental Health Jail Diversion Center instead of being booked into the Tarrant County Jail.

Under the new plan, the following offenses will be eligible: misdemeanor theft, possession of marijuana, disorderly conduct, false report, and terroristic threat if there is no violence.

In addition to the expansion of eligible charges, there will be a new process at the Tarrant County Jail.  During the book-in process, a conference between MHMR, the originating law enforcement agency and the Tarrant County jail supervisor will determine if the charges can be dropped, and the individual diverted to the Center.

All offers of diversion remain the discretion of the law enforcement officer and the individual must volunteer to be taken to the diversion center.