LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – In Clark County inmates who need extensive mental health treatment are still waiting months to restore their competency in a state forensic hospital.
In some cases, the wait times are so long FOX5 found judges are dismissing some court cases.
FOX5 has reported on the long competency restoration wait times last year, and as we continued to investigate we found the wait times are still nowhere near where they are required to be.
We told you about Dylan Ihmels last year, as we reported on his struggles of being in jail without any mental health treatment as he waited to be transferred to Muri Stein Hospital, one of two forensic hospitals in Nevada.
Ihmels was behind bars for stabbing a man in downtown Las Vegas in August of 2023, he was charged with attempted murder but he was soon deemed incompetent.
His mom Sally Ihmels had disclosed to FOX5 her son was diagnosed with a serious mental illness and she later found out what provoked the attack.
“I don’t know what was going on in Dylan’s head but we later found out he wasn’t on medication which was a problem,” his mom Sally Ihmels told FOX5 in a 2024 interview.
Since Ihmels was deemed incompetent he had to take part in a competency restoration program.
Nevada law states when a criminal defendant is found incompetent, the defendant “must received treatment within seven days after the court order is served.”
However, Ihmels waited more than four months to be transferred to Stein.
FOX5 asked defense attorney Joshua Tomsheck about the hurdles that came with Ihmels waiting to for competency treatment.
Victoria: What was that like for you as his defense attorney to have no choice but to sit back and watch ?
Tomsheck: It is frustrating, for everyone it is frustrating for the litigants it is frustrating for the attorneys it is frustrating for the courts. It is certainly frustrating for parents of Dylan it’s frustrating for family members who want to see a resolution to a case and we are in a holding pattern.
Ihmels eventually received treatment which allowed his case to move forward after months of being stalled.
FOX5 was in court in April, as Ihmels was sentenced to probation.
“I agree it was a pretty violent case,” Judge Danielle Pieper said.
Defense attorney Joshua Tomsheck had told Judge Pieper “Because of the violent nature of the offense he wasn’t a candidate for mental health court.”
Tomsheck worked out a deal with prosecutors for his client to plead guilty but mentally ill to a lesser charge.
Both the defense and the state agreed to terms that would allow Ihmels to serve his sentence at home under strict supervision which includes a strong focus on his mental health.
“Because I’ve worked with both of the parties in front of me, I am going to trust their judgement,” Judge Pieper said.
“Time is the one commodity that we can’t get back, so when we spend a lot of time spinning our wheels trying to get to a logical place we come to a place where we lost time,” Tomsheck said. “Dylan lost a large chunk of his life for things that were completely out of his control.”
Other defense attorneys echo Tomsheck, telling FOX5 there are too many inmates needing mental health treatment but there’s not enough beds.
FOX5 reached out to Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral health and they said in June, 121 inmates were at the Clark County Detention Center who have been waiting 93 days to be transferred to a state mental health facility.
For each of those inmates that have not been transferred, DPBH has been fined $500 a day per inmate.
DPBH tells FOX5 in 2024 they paid $181,000 in fines to Clark County because of the delay.
“Just because someone has a serious mental illness does not mean they are a violent person. It is very important to make sure that if people understand that people are not more statically more violent it is really just the treatment that needs to be addressed,” said Judge Bita Yeager
Judge Yeager did not oversee the case for Ihmels, however she does oversee the mental health court for Clark County District Court.
In Judge Yeager’s mental health courtroom, defendants will resolve their criminal cases as they get treated for their mental illness. Which is a priority since the wait times for competency treatment are so long.
In a document obtained by FOX5, a district court judge asked for a case to be dismissed because it has taken too long for a particular inmate to be transferred to a mental health facility, this dismissal was also backed by Nevada Supreme Court.
“It takes them at least 15-18 months to actually complete mental health court so if you are waiting a long period of time to get your competency restored it really makes things difficult on the back end,” Judge Yeager said.
When asked if this delays justice, Judge Yeager said “I think there’s an opportunity missed.”
According to DPBH a new state forensic mental health hospital which will have 298 beds is scheduled to open in 2029.
In the meantime Clark County Detention Center opened up their new mental health unit last year called SMART ( Specialized Mental Health and Recovery Treatment).
It has 60 beds and focuses on intensive psychiatric stabilization.
According to CCDC since they opened they had 400 enrollments to the unit and have had 25 individuals who were re-evaluated by the court and taken off the competency list.
As for Ihmels he will stay out of jail as long as he stays out of his trouble.
He has a case worker who makes sure he stays on top of his medication and shows up for his court appearances.
Have a tip or story idea? You can reach reporter Victoria Saha at [email protected]
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