By Comm. James Snyder, Marion Superior Court
The Marion Superior Court has recently made changes to its Criminal Division Local Rules, effective April 29. Beyond stylistic changes, the Local Rules now reflect the existence of the Mental Health Alternative Court (MHAC) docket. Any defendant who may have a mental illness or mental disability may be referred to the MHAC to determine further eligibility and upon admission, may be transferred to the Mental Health Alternative Court.
The Local Rules also added responsibilities of the Prosecutor’s Office to list all pending cases with any other filed documents in new cases and direct any subsequently filed case to the appropriate court. All of the changes can be viewed here.
For those interested in further information on the MHAC, the Criminal Justice Section will be having a CLE on September 30 from noon to 1 p.m., presented by Judge Crawford, who is the presiding Judge for MHAC, and her team. More information will be available within the coming months.
If you would like to submit content or write an article for the Criminal Justice Section page, please email Kara Sikorski at ksikorski@indybar.org.