Mental Health Courts work with nonviolent offenders who have been diagnosed with a substance use, mental health, or co-occurring disorder. Mental health court (MHC) facilitates cooperation between the state mental health system, mental health service providers, and the court. This allows the state mental health system to provide repeat adult offenders who need mental health services with treatment and other mental health services aimed at improving their ability to function in the community, thereby reducing recidivism and easing the workload of the court.

To be eligible, offenders must have a mental health diagnosis or mental health treatment history, with priority given to defendants with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI). Additionally, all eligible defendants are screened by the district attorney who addresses public safety concerns.

Mental health courts are operational in the following counties:

• Brunswick (District 15)
• Durham (District 16)
• Forsyth (District 31)
• Guilford (District 24)
• Mecklenburg (District 26)
• Orange (District 18)
• Pitt (District 3)

• North Carolina Judicial Branch Launches Holistic Hope Mental Health Diversion Program - May 16, 2024
• Chief Justice Paul Newby Proclaims May 2024 as Treatment Court Month for the North Carolina Judicial Branch - May 1, 2024
• All Things Judicial Features an Interview with Guilford County Attorney G. Stevenson Crihfield - November 8, 2023
• North Carolina Collaboratory to Study N.C. Treatment Courts - November 2, 2023
• North Carolina State Leaders Hold Behavioral Health Roundtable - October 16, 2023
• All Things Judicial Focuses on Brunswick County Recovery Courts - August 2, 2023
• Chief Justice Paul Newby Proclaims May 2023 as Treatment Court Month for the North Carolina Judicial Branch - May 1, 2023
• National Association of Drug Court Professionals Selects North Carolina’s Recovery Courts to Build New Training Infrastructure - January 18, 2023

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