After weeks delay, mentally ill inmate in Scott County to get transfer to psychiatric facility

SHAKOPEE, Minn. (FOX 9) - A mentally ill man, wrongfully jailed in Scott County, is finally scheduled to be transferred to a state-run Community Behavioral Health Hospital weeks after he should have been moved because of his condition.

A district court judge faulted Minnesota’s Department of Human Services for violating the law, concluding the issue has been ongoing for years. Now, she wants answers to why Anthony Swope remained locked up in Shakopee for nearly two months.

"The court remains very concerned about the extensive period of incarceration that he has had in this case," said Judge Colleen King at a Wednesday hearing. "The court did find that based upon the court’s review of the 48-hour statute that he was wrongfully incarcerated. And the court was very concerned about that."

Swope's mother, Cheryl Heath told FOX 9’s Paul Blume that her son is extremely sick, "It's the kind of illness, it only gets worse if he doesn’t get treated."

Heath reports her son has deteriorated rapidly in recent years. And she agrees, he belongs in a psychiatric care facility, not the Scott County Jail.

"These are still people and they're somebody's son, you know, brother, husband, you know, they just needed to help these people so they get the help they need," said Heath.

After a recent assault arrest, Swope was declared incompetent to proceed in the criminal justice system due to mental illness including schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.

Judge King says the ruling should have triggered what’s known as Minnesota’s 48-hour rule where the state has 48 hours to move a mentally ill subject out of a jail setting and into a state-run treatment facility.

Anthony Swope

But that never happened.

Swope’s legal team sued, insisting the clock should have started running on his transfer on September 14. At the hearing, it was learned a bed is now available for Swope at a small DHS-operated psychiatric hospital, and he is scheduled to be transferred on Thursday.

"I'm grateful that they're doing it. I'm sad that it took so long for that, actually, to be pushed to do it, to really have something done for him," Heath said afterward.

The state reports there are more than 60 people across Minnesota who fall into this same category as Swope, too sick to continue in the criminal justice system, but there are not enough beds for them to be treated in a proper care facility. And thus, they are forced to remain behind bars until an opening is available.

In a statement to FOX 9, Dr. KyleeAnn Stevens, Executive Medical Director for Behavioral Health at DHS, wrote, "The situation is frustrating for everyone. For jails. For the court. For DHS. Most of all, it’s frustrating for people who are waiting to be admitted to our psychiatric facilities."

"We have explained to the court that we have limited treatment capacity. When our hospitals are full, we cannot safely admit new patients. We have no choice but to wait until others are discharged and beds open up. Once a medically appropriate bed becomes available, we’re doing everything we can to admit patients as quickly as possible."

"That's what we wanted from the beginning, is for him to get the treatment he needs," said Swope’s attorney Kevin Wetherille, who was skeptical on the timing of the transfer. "And it's clear from what they provided the court that the only reason they're moving him is because we started this lawsuit, and they started to actually look at his file."

Irrespective of the anticipated transfer, Swope’s lawsuit against the state continues given their claims that he would have been illegally jailed for an extended period of time.