GREENSBORO, N.C. — Advocates for North Carolina jail detainees with serious mental illness are pressing a federal judge to move faster on a lawsuit that has been waiting on key rulings for seven months.
In a filing Tuesday, lawyers for Disability Rights North Carolina asked U.S. District Judge William Osteen to expedite its suit against the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. The motion argues that constitutional rights of people held before trial are at stake, and that jail populations and wait times have grown while the group’s motions sit undecided.
The suit, filed in April 2024, centers on people found or suspected to be incapable to proceed to trial, known as ITP detainees. It claims DHHS has failed to provide timely capacity evaluations and restoration treatment, leaving people in county jails for long stretches. The filing says some detainees end up held longer than the maximum sentence they could get for their charges, and that their mental health deteriorates while they wait.
Osteen, who took over the case in August 2025, ruled in March that parts of it could go forward. He threw out the argument that the department’s policies caused an unlawful disparate impact, but let stand a claim that the state failed to make reasonable accommodations, saying whether the waiting list moves at a reasonable pace needs more fact-finding. He also declined to issue an injunction, citing possible harm to psychiatric hospitals, emergency departments and the justice system.
Still pending are the group’s requests to amend its complaint and to turn the case into a class action. The proposed class would cover everyone with serious mental health or cognitive disabilities held in North Carolina jails while waiting for evaluations or restoration services the state must provide, with four detainees added as representatives.
The amended complaint also targets House Bill 307, passed in October 2025, which the group argues will worsen bottlenecks in the involuntary commitment waitlist that ripple into the ITP system. Under federal law, Disability Rights North Carolina serves as the state’s official watchdog and advocate for residents with disabilities.
Filed under: Raleigh NC Health News
