Utah News Dispatch
‘We can do better’: Utah bill would level up standards for mental health care in prison
The Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
A Utah lawmaker wants to codify higher standards for mental health and substance abuse treatment in prison after two audits found the state failed to properly monitor, medicate and treat many with severe mental illness.
“I think everyone’s in agreement that we can do better,” Rep. Steve Eliason said Wednesday.
Eliason, R-Sandy, said the prison already has to meet a general standard for medical care set by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care. Now he wants it to hit higher thresholds from the same group that are specific to treatment.
The pair of wide-ranging legislative audits found inmates who were deemed “acutely suicidal” weren’t constantly monitored in 2024 and 2025. Some managed to harm themselves and one person died in a suicide, auditors said.
With help from an outside expert, psychiatrist Daniel Inouye, they also found examples of inmates getting the wrong drugs for their conditions, waiting months for an appointment, or being told to submit a request for care even though they were “out of touch with reality.”
In response, the state Department of Corrections and the Division of Correctional Health Services said they’re putting together new policies, training and ways to review care, with plans to have some changes in place by next July and others by January 2027.
Eliason said a majority of states contract with outside agencies for behavioral health services in prison, “which intuitively makes a lot of sense, because a lot of can be provided virtually, and they can rotate through different settings so they don’t maybe experience this high rate of burnout.”
His proposal is part of a bigger measure that would also help the state tap into more federal funding for certain prison health care and allow it to order treatment as a condition of parole, among other changes.
The bill would help cut down on repeat offenses and the need for more prison beds by helping to treat patients’ underlying issues, Eliason told lawmakers on the Health and Human Services Committee.
The panel voted unanimously Wednesday to advance the bill to the full House for consideration during the 2026 Legislature, which convenes in January.
“We know that it’s not a silver bullet,” said Rep. Jennifer Dailey-Provost, D-Salt Lake City. “But we’re definitely, I think, moving in the right direction.”
Audit: ‘Inmates are often abandoned’ by mental health care system in the Utah State Prison
The auditors focused on the Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City, which has designated housing for inmates with significant mental health needs. They said problems stemmed from a staffing shortage and a period of more than a year without a full-time psychiatrist, a delay the Division of Correctional Health Services attributed to challenges offering a competitive salary.
The prison now has a psychiatrist working 32 hours per week and making $134 per hour, along with two psychiatry fellows from the University of Utah assisting eight hours per week, said Josh Loftin, a spokesperson for the division.
The division asked lawmakers for a boost in funding last year but didn’t get it, Loftin said. It’s now finding ways to stretch its budget and be more efficient instead of requesting more.
The Department of Corrections’ former Draper location and current Gunnison site were already accredited by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care when it comes to general health care, which includes mental health standards, Loftin said. But none of its sites have received stepped-up accreditations specific to mental health and substance abuse.
The Salt Lake prison isn’t accredited right now because it had to reapply after moving from Draper in 2022. It is scheduled to be evaluated as part of the process next month, the soonest slot available because of pandemic delays, Loftin said.
