Mental Health Courts

Mental Health Courts require collaboration and consideration from practitioners in both the criminal justice and mental health fields. Mental Health Courts typically involve judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and other court personnel. The courts generally deal with nonviolent offenders who have been diagnosed with a mental illness or co-occurring mental health and substance abuse disorders. The goal of a Mental Health Courts is to decrease the frequency of clients' contacts with the criminal justice system by providing courts with resources to improve clients' social functioning and link them to employment, housing, treatment, and support services.

There are currently two Mental Health Courts in Salt Lake County for adults, one Federal Mental Health Court and a Juvenile Mental Health Court. There is also an adult Mental Health Court in Utah County, and one Adult Mental Health Court in Cache County and a Juvenile Mental Health Court in Cache and Box Elder Counties.

For more information on Mental Health Courts, please contact Kim Haws at (801) 323-9900 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Justice, Treatment and Cost--An evaluation on the fiscal cost of mental health court