Long Wait For State Hospital Bed

BENTONVILLE — Faith Denise Whitcomb died of undiagnosed cancer in the Benton County Jail awaiting a bed at Arkansas State Hospital. A judge committed her to the State Hospital after declaring her unfit to stand trial because of mental illness.

Her situation wasn’t unique.

Billy Burris, director of forensic services for the State Hospital, testified May 3 in a Benton County court hearing the hospital has 94 beds for those like Whitcomb who have been declared unfit to face criminal charges.

The waiting list has about 56 names, according to Burris. Burris said the list is seven pages with eight names on each page.

Michael O’Harris, 52, of Bentonville was arrested in February for harassing Mayor Bob McCaslin and other people around town. He was found unfit to stand trial April 11 and ordered committed to the State Hospital.

Burris said the hospital is admitting those deemed not fit to proceed in court in two units — forensic and involuntarily committed.

“If someone is really suffering from mental illness, we want the jails to send us the information, and we will try to bump them up,” Burris said. “We don’t want them suffering in jails.”

The State Hospital has started an outpatient program to treat individuals found unfit to stand trial. O’Harris isn’t a candidate for that program. Burris said during a May 29 hearing he expected it to take another two weeks for a spot to open up for O’Harris. O’Harris was transferred to the State Hospital on June 7.

Dennis Myers, 52, of Pineville, Mo., is charged with rape and sexual assault in connection with the abuse of two teenage girls.

Myers was found unfit to stand trial last month. Circuit Judge Jon Comstock ordered Myers committed to the State Hospital. Myers remains in the county jail where he hasn’t received any type of mental health treatment.

Comstock ordered Myers be released from jail on his own recognizance if he’s not transported to the State Hospital in 15 days.

Antonio Chavez has been found unfit to stand trial and committed to the State Hospital, but Chavez isn’t being held in county jail since he posted bond after his arrest for sexual assault.

Public defender Jay Saxton, Whitcomb’s attorney, said more beds are needed at the State Hospital.

“It doesn't matter whether the beds are in Northwest Arkansas or Texarkana, as long as there are more beds,” he said.

State Sen. Tim Summers of Bentonville, director of development for Decision Point, a drug and alcohol abuse recovery program, said legislators and law enforcement officials have discussed the issue, but he isn’t aware of any legislation on the horizon to address the situation.

Brandon Carter, deputy prosecutor, believes Whitcomb’s case may have ended with an acquittal because of her mental condition. She likely would have been put in a program monitored by Arkansas Department of Human Services where she would have been supervised. She might have even been able go back to live in her mobile home.

Brad Heard, an investigator for the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, immediately recognized Whitcomb needed help with her mental health issues. Carter said Heard came to him at the beginning of the case with concerns about Whitcomb’s mental condition.

“We were all trying to get her mental health treatment due to her arrest for committing a crime,” Carter said. “She was just caught on the list. We wish there was no list, but the State Hospital does the best job they can do with the resources they have.”

Sheriff Keith Ferguson said the jail did nothing wrong in not diagnosing Whitcomb’s cancer, but her death concerns him.

“It bothers me that we are a holding facility for the mentally ill,” he said.

Ferguson said he’s been fighting for bed space for the mentally ill since he took office in 2003 and was confronted with the issue when another mentally ill inmate, Donald Winters, died in the jail that year.

“I hate that we don’t have some place for the mentally ill, and they are even brought into this facility,” Ferguson said.