North Dakota Sex Offender Commitment Reversed Due to Insufficient Trial Court Findings

---

8-22-17 North Dakota:

On February 18, 2016, the North Dakota Supreme Court vacated the ruling of Ward County District Judge Gary H. Lee denying a petition for discharge from civil commitment as a sexually violent offender. The lower court's reasoning for denying the petition -- lack of progress in treatment -- was insufficient under North Dakota law to continue involuntary confinement, the state's high court said.

The case concerns the petition of Jeremy Tim Johnson, who was first committed as a "sexually dangerous individual" in 2012. A year later, after participating in the treatment program, Johnson petitioned the district court for discharge, but the court again found that he was a "sexually dangerous individual" and denied his petition. Johnson appealed, and the case was remanded for further findings of fact. The issue, under North Dakota law, was whether Johnson had "serious difficulty controlling his behavior." If he didn't, the law required his release.

The district court held the new hearing, made additional findings of fact, and again continued Johnson's confinement, and Johnson appealed once more.

The North Dakota Supreme Court reversed, and ordered Johnson's release from confinement. ..Continued..

---

State Supreme Court upholds civil commitment

---

4-20-17 North Dakota:

Convicted sex offender will have yearly status hearings

A man convicted of sexually abusing an underage girl 12 years ago in Williston must remain committed to a sex offender treatment program at the state hospital in Jamestown, according to a recent decision by the North Dakota Supreme Court.

The ruling affirms Williams County Judge Paul Jacobson’s decision last year, when he ordered James Wegley to stay in treatment, despite Wegley’s protest that prosecutors did not prove that he was still sexually dangerous.

Wegley’s civil commitment is subject to yearly hearings to determine whether he will remain a patient, and is eligible for a re-hearing in district court in June, his attorney, Tyler Morrow said.

State Hospital faces cuts

---

3-17-17 North Dakota:

JAMESTOWN, N.D. — The budget for the North Dakota Department of Human Services is being considered in the Senate Appropriations Committee, but a high decrease of funds in some areas of the budget could negatively impact behavioral health services in the state, according to a department official.

Dr. Rosalie Etherington, North Dakota State Hospital superintendent and chief clinics officer for the Department of Human Services, testified in favor of the department's executive budget to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.

House Bill 1012 proposes an overall increase to the Department of Human Services budget but additional cuts to the State Hospital and human service centers' budgets than those included in the department's executive budget.

"It would reduce behavioral health services across the state when there is already a shortage," Etherington said. "People would go without care or be undertreated."

The bill also proposes cutting 51 full-time equivalents (FTEs) in the department, including 11 from the State Hospital and Sex Offender Treatment and Assessment Program, Etherington said. The hospital's staffing formula determined that the cuts would require the hospital to close an eight- to 10-bed patient care unit, she said.

Etherington named superintendent of North Dakota State Hospital

---

5-28-15 North Dakota:

North Dakota Department of Human Services Executive Director Maggie Anderson has appointed Rosalie Etherington as North Dakota State Hospital Superintendent. In this role, Etherington is responsible for oversight of business and clinical operations for the hospital.

Etherington brings 22 years of experience in quality management, program development and expertise in operationalizing regulations and requirements in a behavioral health setting. She is currently the clinical director for inpatient services at the North Dakota State Hospital.

“Dr. Etherington’s experience will ensure the State Hospital, as part of the state’s public behavioral health system, continues to partner with stakeholders to improve access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment,” Anderson said.

North Dakota State Hospital faces treatment dilemma

---

Old article provides background info. on co mingling of patients with non civilly committed folks.

1-31-2008 North Dakota:

JAMESTOWN (AP) - The superintendent of the State Hospital says a man who admitted sexually assaulting a patient in 2005 was moved off the patient's ward after the incident was reported.

Rodney Ireland has blamed the hospital for housing the victim with sex offenders and said the 45-year-old patient, described as having the mental capacity of a 5-year-old, still is in danger of being abused.

Hospital Superintendent Alex Schweitzer and other officials say the patient is mentally ill with a tendency toward violent behavior, though he has mellowed with age. He has been a patient at the hospital for more than 30 years, the superintendent said. Officials continue to seek places to treat him without threatening others.

Schweitzer said staff members in 2005 were suspicious of putting the man with Ireland and separated them as soon as Ireland reported the incident last August.

"Our investigation found it was a minor groping incident and nothing more," Schweitzer said. Ireland was charged with gross sexual imposition, a felony, because of his criminal history, he said. Ireland had been civilly committed to the hospital as a sexually dangerous person.

State Hospital employee turnover rate highest in years

---

Note: The Civil Commitment Unit is a small portion of the ND State Hospital (See highlight near end).

6-30-15 North Dakota:

The North Dakota State Hospital is facing the same problem as many employers in Jamestown; finding people able to work.

Gina Guthmiller, a human resources manager at the State Hospital, said in a report to the North Dakota State Hospital Governing Board Monday that 61 employees have quit their position at the hospital between January and June. This is up 32.6 percent when compared to to the same time period in 2014.

Of the 61 people who have left the State Hospital so far this year, 39 were direct care associates, Guthmiller said. A direct care associate performs similar duties at the State Hospital as a certified nursing assistant does at an assisted care facility. Guthmiller said people hired as direct care associates must complete an approved certified nursing assistant training program by the end of his or her probation period.

Guthmiller said exit interviews with employees show that, especially with direct care associates, stress was the main reason these people were looking for other jobs.

“People are looking for new jobs because of the stress (here) due to lack of staff,” she said.

Lawyer says sex offenders deserve access to court documents

---

5-19-15 North Dakota:

FARGO, N.D. (AP) - A lawyer representing more than two-dozen sex offenders who have filed a lawsuit over treatment at the North Dakota State Hospital says it’s retaliating against the plaintiffs by limiting their participation in the suit.

Christopher Brancart, the attorney for the plaintiffs, says some court documents have been confiscated from his clients as contraband. He has asked for a preliminary injunction that would allow his clients more access to legal papers and advice.

“Based on the evidence submitted to the court, there is good cause to issue an order enjoining (state hospital) staff from engaging in conduct that intimidates and retaliates against plaintiffs for participating in this action,” Brancart wrote in a document filed last week.

The state says the claims are vague and any changes in hospital policy regarding the amount of paperwork and time for legal visits would jeopardize public safety.

Lawyers from both sides have declined to talk about the case while it’s still open. A judge has not ruled on Brancart’s request for an injunction.

Federal funds targeted for improved sex offender registry

---

A quarter of a million dollars+ (so far), to know where each sleeps for a few hours of the day or night! And to know names of those in prison and those living in the state civil commitment facility. What a unbelievable waste of taxpayer money.

7-31-2014 North Dakota:

Federal funds will help enhance the North Dakota attorney general’s sex offender website, according to Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem.

The state is receiving $30,000 for the website, according to Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., who announced the grant Tuesday.

Stenehjem said the funding will cover the costs of updating computer software to allow multiple addresses to the sex offender information available to the public through the website. The public will be able to view all residential addresses of a sex offender who moves between a distant job and a home or a school residence and a home. Another update will allow users of the website to access information from out-of-state sex offender registries.

“It will help augment funding we get from the state,” Stenehjem said, referring to state money used to program and operate the sex offenders’ website. “The state has spent almost a quarter million dollars over the last 12 years.”

Heitkamp said the funds are intended for improvements to the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act system, which began during her days as North Dakota attorney general from 1993 to 2001.

Judge rejects motion by state to throw out suit by North Dakota state hospital sex offenders

---

7-27-2014 North Dakota:

FARGO, North Dakota — A judge has rejected a motion to throw out a lawsuit filed in December by two-dozen sex offenders who are civilly committed to the North Dakota state hospital.

The complaint accuses the state of favoring unnecessary punishment over treatment and violating the rights of the plaintiffs by depriving them of a realistic opportunity to be released.

The suit seeks class-action status for all people who have been civilly committed to the state hospital as sexually dangerous individuals.

The state had argued that the suit should be dismissed because the federal government should not be allowed to review the decisions of state district courts. ..Source.. by TheRepublic

---

North Dakota's AG Stenehjem says sex offender lawsuit is not valid

---

12-14-2013 North Dakota:

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota's attorney general says a lawsuit by 23 sex offenders who are civilly committed to the state hospital should not be a federal case.

The complaint says the state has favored unnecessary punishment over treatment in the last decade and violated the rights of the plaintiffs by depriving them of a realistic opportunity to be released.

The suit seeks class action status for all people civilly committed to the state hospital as sexually dangerous individuals.

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem says in court documents that the case should be dismissed. He says the federal government should not be allowed to review the decisions of state district courts.

An attorney for the plaintiffs could not be reached for comment. ..Source.. by SFGate.com

---

Stenehjem says sex offender lawsuit is not valid

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A lawsuit by 23 sex offenders who are civilly committed to the state hospital should not be a federal case, said North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem.

Stenehjem's office is challenging the complaint filed last month that accuses the state of favoring unnecessary punishment over treatment and violating the rights of the plaintiffs by depriving them of a realistic opportunity to be released.

Civil Commitment Attorneys Subject of Debate

---

2-11-2010 North Dakota:

County officials in North Dakota say it is increasingly difficult to find attorneys to represent people in civil commitment hearings and pay for their services. They want the state to take over the system, as it has with a system that provides public defenders for indigent defendants.

Williams County prosecutor Nathan Madden told the Legislature`s Interim Judicial Process Committee that attorneys can make a lot more money doing oil-related business than representing people in civil commitment hearings.

Williston Republican Sen. Stan Lyson says people who face being committed to a mental health facility deserve to have good lawyers. The committee is considering a bill that would be introduced during the 2011 Legislature. ..Source.. KFYR-TV.com

---

Secure Services Unit released seven in 2009

---

3-10-2010 North Dakota:

Alex Schweitzer, superintendent of the North Dakota State Hospital, included an update on a program that treats sex offenders during in his regular report to the hospital governing board Monday. The State Hospital’s Secure Services Unit, in existence since 1997, houses 65 individuals and has a capacity of 85 beds. Over the life of the program, 12 men have been released.

Alex Schweitzer, superintendent of the North Dakota State Hospital, included an update on a program that treats sex offenders during in his regular report to the hospital governing board Monday.

The State Hospital’s Secure Services Unit, in existence since 1997, houses 65 individuals and has a capacity of 85 beds. Over the life of the program, 12 men have been released.

“A lot of judges are looking at releasing these guys,” Schweitzer said. “We try to get ahead of that.”

Part of the process of preparing the sex offenders for eventual release involves transitional housing on the grounds of the State Hospital. Schweitzer said patients involved in the traditional housing program are allowed more freedom than when they were housed in the secure unit but their movements are monitored by GPS systems.

“We have a zero tolerance for any sort of infraction,” Schweitzer said. “If they violate any of the rules about where they can be and what they can do, they’re right back in the secure unit.”

Of the 12 released from the State Hospital, seven were discharged in 2009. None of the patients released has been readmitted to the State Hospital but one committed a new offense and is currently incarcerated in California.

“Internally we always assumed there would be releases,” said Kerry Wicks, executive director of the State Hospital’s Chemical Dependency Services Unit. “Naturally, the treatment of sex offenders has changed over the years. We didn’t release any during the first five years of the program.”

Schweitzer said the costs of housing and treating a sex offender in the unit are $86,344 per year. He said this was down from about $130,000 per year early in the life of the program.

In other business, the board heard a list of suggested projects for the upcoming biannual budget. Schweitzer suggested replacing utilities in the employee’s building, creating a centralized chapel and developing a plan for the 16 West building would all be considered when developing the next budget.

The board also reviewed plans for the upcoming 125th Anniversary Celebration for the State Hospital. The three-day event will begin on May 5 and include tours of the facility, social and musical events and an all-hospital picnic. ..Source.. Keith Norman, The Jamestown Sun

---

North Dakota State Hospital Receives Accreditation

---

10-22-2010 North Dakota:

BISMARCK, N.D. - The North Dakota State Hospital, which is part of the N.D. Department of Human Services, received full Joint Commission Accreditation for its hospital and behavioral health care programs following on-site survey reviews in Jamestown, N.D., in May and August.

“The accreditation and certification for Medicare and Medicaid assures the public the State Hospital meets required standards for quality, patient safety, and the care environment,” said State Hospital Superintendent Alex Schweitzer.

He said commission reviewers commended hospital staff for the quality of care they provide daily to about 120 people receiving inpatient mental health and addiction treatment services. He said the hospital is providing treatment and evaluation services to about 59 patients in the secure services unit for civilly-committed sexually dangerous individuals, and provides addiction treatment services on-site to about 84 people who are under the care and supervision of the N.D. Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

North Dakota strives to serve people with disabilities in their communities. The State Hospital remains a safety-net for inpatient services for uninsured people with severe mental health and substance addiction needs.

Schweitzer said the State Hospital is the primary provider of inpatient mental health and addiction treatment services for the Devils Lake, Dickinson, Jamestown, and Williston regions of the state. Those regions do not have community hospitals that provide these important inpatient services, he said.

An independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission accredits and certifies more than 18,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. ..Source.. by Heather Stefl, North Dakota Department of Human Services

---