MENTAL HEALTH COORDINATOR - Criminal Courts

Tarrant County; Texas; On-site; USD 52,000 - 78,000; Full time

Job summary

Tarrant County seeks an internal coordinator to handle mental impairment issues affecting Criminal Courts. The role manages mental-health court business, attends proceedings, and communicates with agencies.

It creates dockets, tracks case status, and maintains staff calendars, working with jail and court staff to ensure timely, compliant hearings. The position requires strong organizational and communication skills, a High School diploma, with preference for higher education or related

Qualifications

• Demonstrate working knowledge of court operations and docket management.
• Strong communication and organizational abilities are required.
• Experience with court procedures and due process is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Handles mental-health court business as directed by judges or magistrates.
• Attends mental-health court proceedings and ensures proper settings.
• Communicates with local and outside agencies regarding mental health proceedings.
• Creates and distributes dockets for mental-health proceedings.
• Provides information on case status and conflicts.
• Coordinates calendars and maintains schedules for Mental Health Court staff.
• Monitors companion cases and progress of defendants released on supervision.
• Coordinates transfer considerations for prisoners with severe mental-health impairment.
• Works with jail staff to coordinate judicial authorizations for transfers to medical/mental-health facilities.
• Monitors appointment orders for psychologists/psychiatrists and ensures timely reports.
• Returns defendants from state hospital and schedules hearings when competent.
• Collaborates with providers to resolve issues with mentally impaired offenders.
• Performs related duties as assigned.

Skills

Court coordination

Docket management

Communication skills

Microsoft Office

Education

High School Diploma or equivalent

Bachelor's or Associate's degree preferred

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Job description

This position serves as an internal coordinator for issues pertaining to the mentally impaired affecting the Criminal Courts.

1. Handles all mental-health court business as directed by thejudges or magistrates.
2. Attends mental-health court proceedings and ensures proper settings as guided by local rules and case-flow management.
3. Communicates with local and outside agencies, fielding calls related to mental health proceedings.
4. Creates and generates dockets for mental-health proceedings and distributes to appropriate criminal court staff and clerks.
5. Provides information regarding case status and court conflicts.
6. Coordinates calendar of activities, meetings and events and maintains schedules for the Mental Health Court staff.
7. Monitors companion cases.
8. Serves as court coordinator for mental-health proceedings.
9. Works on behalf of the Criminal Courts and in tandem with the Data and Jail Population Specialist to monitor incoming prisoners and to identify those with a severe mental-health impairment that may require immediate attention. May include initiating transfers to a therapeutic residential setting for stabilization, charge dismissal and transfer for civil commitment, or commitment for competency restoration.
10. Works with jail staff to coordinate judicial authorization for transfer to medical or mental-health facility if a prisoner becomes mentally unstable while in jail.
11. Monitors assignments of psychologists and psychiatrists who are appointed to evaluate prisoners for mental competency. Ensures appointment orders are signed by a judge or magistrate, the jail is notified of the appointment, and doctors have submitted timely reports.
12. Coordinates return of defendants from state hospital and ensures hearing can be scheduled at a time when the defendant is presumably competent.
13. Coordinates and monitors progress of mentally impaired defendants released on pretrial supervision to ensure medication compliance and bond-condition compliance.
14. Serves as a resource to courts for referral of mentally impaired defendants to community resources.
15. Collaborates with service providers and community organizations to resolve issues with mentally impaired offenders with pending cases.
16. Performs all other related duties as assigned.

• High School Diploma or equivalent required.
• Bachelor's or Associate's degree preferred.
• Seven (7) years related experience.
• Bachelor's or Associate's degree in a related field may substitute for required experience on a year-for-year basis.
• Demonstrate a working knowledge of the operation of courts, court proceedings, docket management, and due process requirements.
• Intermediate to Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office programs, including Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Excel. Strong communication and organizational skills.
• Ability to assume responsibility without direct supervision.
• Ability to handle confidential information.

While performing the duties of this position, the incumbent is regularly required to sit, stand, lift, transport, stoop, grasp, climb, walk, and bend. There is exposure to household type cleaning agents (such as diluted bleach, alcohol-based window cleaner, chlorine-based cleanser); and occasional exposure to pesticides. There is occasional exposure to inmate control devices that emit pepper agents via aerosol spray, gel, or foam. There is the potential of exposure to toxic smoke.