The mission of the Mental Health / Developmental Disability (MHDD) Court of the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court is to identify defendants / offenders with severe mental illnesses and / or developmental disability in order to divert them from or guide them through the criminal justice system. It is the ultimate goal of this specialized court to provide early assessment along with extensive corroboration between the Court Psychiatric Clinic, the County Jail, Pretrial Services, Probation Department, the service providers, and the Court in order to provide treatment and control within the community or sanctions whenever appropriate.

1. CUYAHOGA COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH COURT ATTORNEY TRAINING General Overview Hon. Timothy E. McMonagle, Judge ( Retired) Former Chair, Common Pleas Mental Health Court Daniel E. Peterca, Pretrial Services Manager, Co-Director, Common Pleas Mental Health Court August 19, 2011

2. Mental Health Court MISSION STATEMENT: The mission of the Mental Health Court is to promote early identification of defendants with severe mental health/developmental disabilities in order to promote coordination and cooperation among law enforcement, jails, community treatment providers, attorneys and the courts for defendants during the legal process and achieve outcomes that both protect society and support the mental health care and disability needs of the defendant. August 19, 2011

4. State Perspective The Ohio Supreme Court’s Specialized Dockets Section is in process of developing a new rule outlining standards to help guide local courts currently operating or considering starting a specialized docket. The 12 standards proposed are intended to create a minimum level of uniform practices yet still allow courts to tailor operations to meet their individual needs August 19, 2011

13. 30.1 Assignment of Criminal Cases to Mental Health Dockets (A) DEFINITIONS Mental health dockets shall include cases where the defendant has a confirmed serious mental illness or is developmentally disabled as defined below: (1) For purposes of this section, a defendant is deemed to have a confirmed serious mental illness if within the previous six months prior to arraignment, there is a clinical diagnosis of a severe mental illness with a psychotic feature or defendant was previously found eligible or was assigned to a MHCD. (2) For purposes of this section, a defendant is deemed to be developmentally disabled if there is a clinical diagnosis that the defendant meets current Developmentally Disabled Offender eligibility of an IQ of 75 or less and/or an adaptive skills deficit based on either a diagnostic report or on the defendant previously having been found eligible or assigned to a MHCD. August 19, 2011

14. 30.1 Assignment of Criminal Cases to Mental Health Dockets (B) APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES TO PRESIDE OVER MENTAL HEALTH DOCKETS The Administrative Judge will select Common Pleas Court General Division judges for the mental health dockets. The judges will serve for a period of two years from date of assignment. Upon approval of the Administrative Judge, the judges may be reappointed to successive terms. Thereafter, any Common Pleas Court General Division Judges who desire to preside over a mental health docket may submit their names to the Administrative Judge for consideration. August 19, 2011

15. 30.1 Assignment of Criminal Cases to Mental Health Dockets (C) ASSIGNMENT OF CASES TO MENTAL HEALTH DOCKETS (1) Except as otherwise provided for in paragraph (D) of this rule, at the arraignment there will be a random assignment of mental health cases to judges presiding over the mental health dockets. Assignments will occur through a process either manual or electronic, which ensures the equitable distribution of cases among mental health dockets where the defendant: (a) Based on either a new psychiatric assessment or on past placement on a MHCD, has a confirmed serious mental illness or is developmentally disabled as defined in A(1) and A(2) above; and (b) Has no pending case[s], is not on probation or community control at the time of the offense, or there is no co-defendant[s] with a pending case or probation or community control cases. (2) In cases where it is determined after arraignment that a defendant has a confirmed serious mental illness or is developmentally disabled as defined in A(1) or A(2) above, the Administrative Judge may reassign the case to a mental health docket through random assignment. August 19, 2011

16. 30.1 Assignment of Criminal Cases to Mental Health Dockets (D) CASES WILL NOT BE ASSIGNED TO MENTAL HEALTH DOCKETS WHEN: (1) A single defendant commits a new offense while on probation or community control. The case shall then be assigned to the docket of the judge with such prior case. (2) A single defendant has a pending case. The case shall then be assigned to the docket of the judge with the pending case. (3) A defendant has co-defendant[s] on this case or has co-defendant[s] with a prior pending case, then the case shall be assigned to the docket of the judge who was assigned the pending case. If two or more defendants have pending cases, the case shall be assigned to the docket of the judge with the lowest numbered case. August 19, 2011

17. 30.1 Assignment of Criminal Cases to Mental Health Dockets (4) A defendant has co-defendants where one co-defendant has a pending case and the other defendant has a probation or community control case. The case shall then be assigned to the docket of the judge with the pending case. (5) A defendant has co-defendant[s] where no co-defendant has a pending case but a co-defendant[s] is on probation or community control, then all defendants shall be assigned to the docket of the judge who has a co-defendant on probation or community control. Where there is more than one co-defendant on probation or community control, the case shall be assigned to the docket of the judge with the lowest numbered case. Effective: 06/09/2003 Amendments to (A), (A)(1), (A)(2), (C)(1)(a) and (C)(2), effective 2/04/10 August 19, 2011