Oregon’s state health agency is appealing a ruling by federal Judge Adrian Nelson that found the agency in contempt.

Under that ruling, issued June 6 in US District Court, Oregon has started racking up fines of $500 per day for each person who has to wait in a local jail cell for more than a week before admission to the state’s psychiatric hospital.

The case concerns people who are accused of crimes but who are too mentally ill to stand trial, often due to psychosis, a collection of symptoms that includes delusions and hallucinations.

Oregon has been under a permanent court injunction since 2002, when a previous judge in the same case ruled that the state needed to move such people out of jail within seven days of determining they need treatment to be able to participate in their own defense.

Less than two weeks have passed since Nelson found the Oregon Health Authority in contempt and ordered the fines. The state owes $38,000 so far for 24 people on the admissions waitlist in the first half of June.

In a series of filings yesterday, OHA informed the court it plans to appeal the contempt ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and asked Nelson to stay her decision to collect the fines pending the appeal.

The health authority and the Oregon State Hospital will split the cost of the fines. Paying the fines would require staffing and pay cuts, the state argued in its filings requesting a stay.

The positions most likely to be cut at the hospital are six administrators who oversee secure residential treatment facilities on state hospital campuses, two nurse practitioners in the psychiatry department at the hospital, contractors who help the state hospital find placements for patients who are ready to be discharged, an IT position, custodians, and mental health treatment positions.

The health authority said it has no discretionary funds available to pay the fines and is already anticipating a loss of $4,556,029 in federal funds this year. OHA behavioral health director Ebony Clark said in court filings that if the agency is required to pay the fines, she will be unable to pay cost-of-living increases to her entire community behavioral health workforce.

The lead plaintiff in the case, Disability Rights Oregon, said the state has been out of compliance with the 7-day order virtually every month since the case was reopened in 2018, and their clients are dying in jail.

“We stand firmly behind the Court’s recent contempt ruling and will vigorously oppose any effort if Oregon appeals,” Jake Cornett, Executive Director and CEO at Disability Rights Oregon, said in a prepared statement.

A spokesperson for Gov. Tina Kotek declined to comment on the pending litigation.

In court, attorneys defending the state conceded that the hospital has been unable to make beds available for defendants within the court-ordered timeline. The state’s defense had rested on the argument that the agency has taken all reasonable steps to try to come into compliance, which includes building more residential care facilities and following the recommendations of a neutral expert chosen by the previous federal judge overseeing the case.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/06/19/oregon-appeals-federal-contempt-ruling-over-state-hospital-delays/