Civil rights advocates from Disability Rights Washington (DRW) filed a motion in federal court Thursday asking a judge to hit the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) with hundreds of millions of dollars in additional sanctions for failing to provide timely mental health services to inmates deemed incompetent to stand trial. Attorneys for DRW said they had no choice but to file the motion seeking additional sanctions to incentivize the state to comply with timelines set by Judge Marsha Pechman in the landmark Trueblood case, originally filed in 2014 against DSHS. “We’ve hit a point where we don’t feel we have any other option,” said Kim Mosolf, a DRW attorney. “We feel forced to take this step on behalf of our class members.” Judge Pechman ruled that DSHS must transport seriously mentally ill inmates from local jails to a state psychiatric facility within seven days. But throughout 2022 the wait times have increased to eight, nine, and 10 months. Read the full story here: https://www.king5.com/article/news/investigations/state-faces-additional-fines-leaving-mentally-ill-inmates-jails/281-a60279ff-fb91-4530-b7cc-ecadb0aad64a