By Jeremy Pittari
BAY ST. LOUIS — Hancock County is one of two counties in Mississippi where Chancery Court have begun using video conferencing technology to keep patients comfortable and save the county money while conducting due process hearings.
However, chancery judges for Pearl River County have turned down the system, despite its money-saving aspects.
Hancock Chancery Clerk Tim Kellar said the system is relatively new, having undergone only two test sessions and one full session, which was held on Wednesday. Kellar said the system is expected to save the county money in law enforcement personnel hours and travel expenses.
Instead of having to transport possible mental patients to a chancery court courtroom from the Gulf Coast Mental Health Crisis Stabilization Unit in Gulfport, those patients can have their due process hearing from the center. The process involves a wide screen television and camera equipment on both sides, one set up in the Family Master courtroom in Bay St. Louis and another at the Crisis Stabilization center in Gulfport. The purpose of the hearing is to determine whether the patient is to be released on his or her own recognizance or involuntarily treated for mental illness.
Kellar said he expects the technology to help save money for the county, especially because the number of mental patient hearings in the county has more than doubled since Hurricane Katrina. Every person considered for commitment participates in a due process hearing, Kellar said.
Prior to the county implementing this type of hearing a deputy had to pick up the patient from Gulfport and transport the patient to Chancery Court in Bay St. Louis, said Hancock County Family Master Gerald Gex.
The commitment process is usually started by a family member of the patient. Kellar said that family member will go to the chancery court and ask for another family member to be committed. Kellar said Chancery Court staff will then sit down with that family member and conduct an interview to get a description of the behavior exhibited by the person for commitment is sought. A background check is also conducted on the person to see if any criminal charges are pending. Drug and alcohol testing is also conducted. If the court finds pending charges or the presence of illegal substances, then the person will not be committed until those factors are cleared up for any treatment for mental illness to take place.
Given the fact that family involvement usually puts that person for whom commitment is sought in the hospital the presence of the person seeking the commitment during hearings often agitates the patient. Using video conferencing to conduct due process hearings helps prevent that, Gex said. Using the video conferencing technology in the courtroom also appears to help the patients be more relaxed during the hearings. Gex feels that courtroom settings at times can be daunting. Using this system allows hearings to be held without the patient having to go into a courtroom.
While the system is currently being used for the due process hearings, there is the possibility that it could be used for other court procedures, such as in drug and alcohol cases, Department of Human Services cases concerning fathers who are incarcerated and therefore behind on child support, or even custody cases, Kellar said.
The only other county in Mississippi using the video conferencing technology in a courtroom is Harrison County, Kellar said. Harrison County was the first to implement its use in the courtroom.
There are other benefits to using the video conference system. Kellar said that in the past the hearings were recorded but by audio only, now the system records video and audio.
“I’ve not seen a negative side of this yet,” Kellar said. “This is the cutting edge of what we will see in the years to come.”
Hancock was able to secure funding for the system with help from Senior Chancellor Margaret Alphonso, who applied for and secured the two grants. Kellar also credits the Hancock County Board of Supervisors for approving use of the system.
Kellar felt that it would only be a matter of time before other counties follow suit.
However the system has already been turned down by Pearl River County chancery judges. Pearl River County Chancery Clerk David Earl Johnson said the court was offered and working on setting up a similar system but the district’s chancery judges did not feel comfortable using it. He said all four of the those judges, Sebe Dale Jr., James Thomas Jr., Johnny Williams Jr. and Eugene Fair, did not feel that patients would be getting due process by using the video conference system.
Johnson said he was excited about the system, especially since it would have been a cost savings to county taxpayers.
