by Staff Report
Mental health commitments will continue in Skagit County for two more months at least, as county representatives on the North Sound Mental Health Administration board look for new ways to fund the commitment program.
Skagit County Prosecutor Rich Weyrich has agreed to continue providing attorneys for the hearings until Sept. 10. He had originally said he would stop staffing the hearings on July 1, then extended that to July 10.
He decided to extend the deadline even further after meeting with the executive director of the North Sound Mental Health Administration on Friday and after the North Sound board said Monday that it would explore funding options.
The hearings determine whether hospitals can detain patients who are a danger to themselves or others, or are severely mentally disabled.
Weyrich has said county handling of the hearings is an unfunded state mandate that the county cannot afford. North Sound Mental Health Administration officials said last week that they could not provide money to pay the prosecutor’s office for mental health commitments as Weyrich requested.
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