Attorney General Gentner Drummond is decrying a hastily called meeting of the Contingency Review Board (CRB) today as a sham likely to reject a class-action lawsuit settlement that would save the state many millions of dollars.
Filed in March of 2023, Briggs v. Slatton-Hodges contends the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) has violated due process rights by failing to provide timely court-ordered competency restoration services for some pretrial defendants deemed not competent to stand trial. Some inmates have languished in county jails for more than a year, resulting in delayed justice for victims of crimes. Other states facing similar litigation have been hit with upwards of $100 million in court-ordered costs and fees.
A consent decree brokered by the Attorney General’s Office and plaintffs’ attorneys would deliver long-delayed justice for crime victims while ensuring due process.
Earlier this week, Drummond informed Gov. Stitt, who chairs the CRB, that the consent decree is not ready for review because a federal judge has yet to approve several of its key terms. Despite this fact, the Governor has indicated the four-member board will still meet to consider whether to approve the plan. The board consists of Stitt, House Speaker Charles McCall, Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat and Office of Management and Enterprise Services Executive Director Katie DeMuth, who is a Stitt appointee.
“The Governor appears bound and determined to force Oklahomans to ultimately pay untold millions of dollars and ignore a years-long failure of the state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Rather than seizing an opportunity to deliver justice and save taxpayer dollars, Gov. Stitt would rather stage political theater. This is disappointing, if not entirely surprising,” Drummond said.
“Because of ODMHSAS’ outrageous failure, crime victims and their families have waited in agony for their cases to be resolved. The Governor’s refusal to resolve this lawsuit with a reasonable, wholly appropriate and inevitable plan of action does a disservice to victims of crime and to the taxpayers of Oklahoma.”
The consent decree, which was filed in June, outlines a strategic plan for justice to be administered in a timely fashion by improving ODMHSAS’ restoration services. The consent decree must be preliminarily approved by a judge before it can be considered by the CRB.
Original source can be found here.