Idaho’s mental health courts face an uncertain future according to the state’s chief justice.
The reason, said Chief Justice Richard Bevan, is because state health officials cut funding for peer support specialists, among other cuts to behavioral health programs due to the state’s projected budget deficit.
People with severe mental illness who’ve been convicted of certain felonies can qualify for their case to be transferred to mental health courts. They’re placed on probation while getting treated and hopefully rehabilitated.
“Treatment courts play a proven role in helping individuals become productive members of communities and preserving that work matters,” Bevan told lawmakers on Wednesday.
Peer support specialists help participants navigate the program. They often have undergone the same treatments themselves.
Bevan said courts have found funding to keep those positions filled through the end of June. But he warned lawmakers mental health courts may not be as effective without those positions.
“In the coming months, we will meet with mental health court judges and professionals to better understand the impact of losing peer support services and whether these courts can continue to operate as intended without them,” he said.
Critics of the cuts to behavioral health programs include the Idaho Sheriff’s Association. Its president, Bonneville County Sheriff Samuel Hulse, wrote an open letter to Gov. Brad Little and legislative leaders in December warning them of the potential consequences.
“We acknowledge the State’s budget challenges which are self-inflicted by an overly aggressive tax reduction stance of the Legislative Branch and a complicit Executive Branch continuing to reduce tax revenue creating a budget shortage. These reductions to mental health services represent a significant public-safety concern,” Hulse wrote.
In Wednesday’s speech, Bevan also outlined a significant uptick in the number of civil cases filed over the past two fiscal years.
From July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025, nearly 93,000 new civil cases were filed – an increase of 17% from two years prior.
“High-value cases before the district courts involving topics such as business disputes, debt collection, medical malpractice and personal injury were up 60% from two years before,” Bevan said.
He also reiterated a theme from prior state of the judiciary addresses in which he outlined increasing threats to judges.
“Legislators, judges, and executive officials alike have been reminded — tragically — that public service can make one a target, especially given the importance of conducting public business in a space open to the public,” Bevan said.
Most threats never come to fruition, he said, but precautions taken to counter them can “disrupt court operations and delay the delivery of justice.”
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