The Associated Press reported Feb. 18 that the court was founded by Judge Brent Moss, a former drug-court judge who had grown weary of seeing drug users sent to prison because they were trying to self-medicate for an underlying mental illness.

"When I was doing drug court five years ago, we could immediately see that there are people who are failing," said Moss. "We couldn't get them through. Though they were getting clear of drugs, they didn't like the way it felt to be sober."

Both Moss and state corrections officials agreed that prisons are ill-equipped to deal with prisoners with mental illness. "If I had to rank two issues that are very big problems for the Department of Corrections, it's drugs and mental health," said state corrections chief Tom Beauclair.

As with drug court, participants in mental health court are offered a treatment alternative to prison. Offenders are required to attend addiction and mental health treatment programs and stay on their medications, and receive support services.

Participants like Peggy Reese said that dealing with their mental illness helped them control their craving for drugs. "Once they get you so you're on medication and compliant, and they check on you every night to make sure you're OK, it gets better," she said. "Now I'm not even drinking. I've been clean 19 months with no relapse, not even a thought of it. Isn't that incredible? You don't know what you're feeling, why you're feeling it, until someone teaches you."

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