Lawsuit says Florida jails hold mentally ill defendants for months before state hospital treatment

# What the lawsuit says

# How many people are waiting According to the complaint, DCF has maintained a fluctuating waitlist across Florida of between 650 and 880 people awaiting court-ordered competency restoration. Jacksonville-area public defender Charlie Cofer says the local waitlist generally ranges between 50 and 60 defendants.

# Human consequences described in the suit The filing includes anonymized case examples:

• "A.L." died in the Duval County jail in 2024 while waiting for commitment to a state hospital. Clinicians had warned he was at risk of self-harm. He died of hyponatremic dehydration about six weeks after the statutory 15-day deadline had passed.

The suit frames these outcomes as predictable results of prolonged detention without access to the medications and therapies that state hospitals provide for competency restoration.

# What DCF has said DCF has acknowledged the problem. In a 2025 filing the agency stated that roughly 87% of defendants on its waitlist had waited longer than the 15-day statutory maximum. DCF attributed delays to limited funding and insufficient bed capacity in state hospitals.

# Budget and oversight questions Cofer points out that Florida generally ranks near the bottom in community mental health spending and says DCF did not request additional funding for commitment of defendants in its most recent state budget request. He argues the delays are inefficient and inhumane and calls for continued oversight so that any new funding produces measurable results.

# Why this matters for the court process Defendants declared incompetent cannot proceed to trial until they are stabilized and able to understand proceedings and assist in their defense. Extended waits for transfer stall criminal cases and leave individuals detained without access to court-ordered treatment.

# Immediate stakes The lawsuit seeks to force DCF to comply with statutory transfer timeframes and to reduce the statewide waitlist. The complaint uses both aggregate figures and specific case narratives to show the duration and human cost of current delays.

# Next steps to watch Watch for court action on the complaint and for any DCF filings or legislative responses addressing funding, bed capacity, or procedural changes intended to shorten transfer times.