Category: History and Thoughts

Update: Mr. Kagay

I finally heard back from the Shawnee County DA’s office and Mr. Kagay does not have the ability to initiate, or establish a mental health court in the Third Judicial District. I was referred to Court Administration for this endeavor.

COVID19 Vaccine Clinic

We’re proud to announce that we are hosting the Shawnee County Health Department in the Oakland Community Center for a COVID19 vaccine clinic. Pfizer vaccinations will be administered on July 28th and August 18th between the hours of 11am and 1pm, walk-ins are welcome, the shots are FREE and no ID is required.

All you have to do is ask …

Yesterday morning, at the top of the May Intersection Coalition meeting, our chairman asked if we had any ideas we wanted to share that might correspond with the mission of the coalition.

I opened my microphone and asked if establishing a mental health court in our Third Judicial District (Shawnee County) might help keep mentally ill folks out of jail. Our chairman approved and said he would like to see this idea come to fruition, too.

I’d forgotten our audience and soon one of our county judges chimed in. She said that she would check into getting a mental health court and I’m a weeping hot mess this morning. I’ll never get used to speaking to power and am so grateful that the Chair allowed me this opportunity. Today, I’m hoping to further conversation with our District Attorney to get him on board.

Shawnee County Steps Up

Blaise Mesa, of the Topeka Capitol Journal reports that Shawnee County Commissioners approved a resolution for the Stepping Up Initiative. This means that we will begin tracking mentally ill inmates to determine vulnerabilities in the county with the benefit of an in-state technical assistance center, the latter announced by Governor Kelly in January of this year.

“We are proud Kansas is the second state to join the national ‘Stepping Up’ program,” said Governor Laura Kelly. “This initiative will allow us to improve public safety and address unnecessary spending while diverting more individuals to potentially life-saving treatment. We look forward to working with our state and local partners to reduce the number of individuals with a mental illness in jails.”

The Kansas ‘Stepping Up’ TA Center —only the second of its kind in the nation—will offer virtual and in-person technical assistance tailored specifically to Kansas counties to support policies and programs that improve outcomes for people with mental illnesses and co-occurring substance use disorders in jails. Reinforced by support from the national ‘Stepping Up’ initiative, this effort will be directly informed by local needs and guided by a leadership team of state and local representatives.

Of the resolution, Shawnee County Commission Chairman Kevin Cook said he wants to see the county continue to back up its words with action. He said it costs taxpayers three times as much to house a mentally ill patient when compared to a non-mentally ill patient. Perhaps we can approach District Attorney, Mike Kagay about his 2016 campaign promoting a mental health court in the Third Judicial District.