THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 30, 1994 TAG: 9407300220
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
Despite crowding that has raised staffing and security concerns, the state has reversed its decision not to accept any new admissions at Central State Hospital's forensic unit.
The state Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse told Virginia's sheriffs on Wednesday that no more prisoners would be admitted.
``When we heard about this, it was almost heart-stopping,'' Roanoke Sheriff W. Alvin Hudson said Thursday. ``We're dealing with more mentally ill people than ever before.''
After listening to the sheriffs' complaints, the department decided ``we are not going to invoke the cap at this time'' at the forensic unit, said Timothy A. Kelly, mental health commissioner.
The forensic unit houses those judged innocent by reason of insanity and those needing court-ordered psychiatric evaluation.
Kelly said the unit is staffed for 140 patients but is handling 160.
Over the past several months, three patients have escaped from the Dinwiddie County facility, including John T. Midgette, who was committed in 1991 after he had been found innocent by reason of insanity of killing his boss.
Midgette, who was considered dangerous, walked away April 23 and was recaptured five weeks later in North Carolina. The two other inmates who later walked away from the facility were quickly recaptured.
Kelly said he hopes to handle the crowding problem by asking sheriffs to only send those truly in need of such specialized incarceration.
But sheriffs said their jails are also crowded and inmates with mental problems can be disruptive and dangerous. The Roanoke County Jail, for example, is certified for 236 inmates. Last weekend, it housed 550, Hudson said.
``We don't have a place where we can keep them here,'' he said. by CNB