State selects Laurel for new mental health facility

The state health department has been looking for a location to build a new $26.5 million mental health facility in the eastern portion of the state. It had been eyeing Billings, but city officials and residents were reluctant about the idea.

The state then looked for other interested communities. Health officials selected Laurel after the city raised its hand.

State lawmakers approved the funding for the facility last session. The move is part of the state’s overhaul of the mental health system.

The new facility will be for criminal defendants that need mental health treatment before they can stand trial. Defendants can spend months in jail waiting for a bed at the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs. County prosecutors sometimes drop charges because it takes too long to get mental health care. The new facility will help address that backlog.

Listen • 1:40

1. New state funding aims to provide mental health treatments for inmates
2. Lawmakers overhaul Montana's mental health system
3. Proposal would fund a new facility for defendants with severe mental illness
4. Montanans with severe mental illness face a cycle of crisis and homelessness