Mental Health Courts: an Assessment of Eligibility Criteria, Service Characteristics, and Public Opinion

Mental health courts, a type of specialty court targeting justice-involved persons with mental illness, have become prominent across the United States. Using a therapeutic jurisprudence approach, these courts largely operate independently with no guiding framework, leading to varied practices. Additionally, public opinion on mental health courts is unknown, causing potential problems as these courts are rapidly expanding and funded, at least partially, through taxpayer dollars. Chapter One of this dissertation provides a framework for the remainder of the dissertation. Chapter Two is a detailed literature review of relevant theories and past research regarding mental health courts. Chapters Three and Four of this dissertation aim to assess practices across mental health courts through a nationally administered mental health court census. Chapter Five assesses public opinion through a nationally representative vignette survey administered through YouGov. Chapter Six concludes this dissertation.