House sends fast-tracked mental health bill to Gov. Inslee

OLYMPIA — A bill to establish a 14-day deadline for mental-health evaluations of people charged in crimes passed the Washington Legislature on Monday and is headed to Gov. Jay Inslee for his signature.

A bipartisan group of House members passed the measure 84-14.

Washington is defending a class-action lawsuit over allegations that some defendants have been forced to stay in jails for weeks or months while waiting for testing. Existing policy gives jails and hospitals a one-week target to evaluate the mental health of people in custody, but a lack of beds and staff has contributed to long waitlists.

“This sets a hard timeline of 14 days, which is much quicker than what we’re achieving right now in Washington,” said Rep. Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma.

Under Senate Bill 5889, any facility that exceeds 14 days in completing evaluations must submit a report to the governor and Legislature describing what action is being taken to improve. A defendant whose evaluation took longer than 14 days could also cite that in his defense in court.

Jinkins said the 14-day deadline is in line with the policy recommendations for giving defendants mental-health tests that often cannot be instantly administered.

“We have individuals who come into a jail setting when they may be affected by some substance-abuse issues, and it’s important to let those things clear before we do mental-health evaluations,” she said.

The bill passed the Senate 48-1 earlier last week and received little debate on the House floor.

Rep. Jay Rodne, R-Snoqualmie, was the only critic of the bill who spoke during the House’s rapid Monday floor vote, and he voted for it.

“This is, again, a Band-Aid approach to deal with a mental health system that’s broken,” Rodne said, but added that it was still better than available alternatives the state could choose from.