HILLSBORO – An assistant state attorney general described in stark terms the dismal state of Oregon’s treatment of mentally ill defendants when chastised by a judge Tuesday for disobeying court orders.

The state lawyer, Craig Johnson, did not contest that defendants’ constitutional rights are being trampled. But, Johnson intimated, no one in state government knows quite what to do about it.

“We have no solution,” he said.

Johnson appeared in Washington County Circuit Court to rebut two defense attorneys’ requests that the judge, D. Charles Bailey, hold the state in contempt of court. Under a federal court order, their clients and all such mentally ill defendants deemed in need of mental health treatment so they can aid in their own defense are supposed to be admitted for treatment within seven days – a deadline Johnson acknowledged the state is failing to meet.

The proceedings were the latest symptom of a worsening mental health crisis gripping Oregon’s justice system.

Increasing numbers of mentally ill people are arrested and charged with crimes. Many are homeless, and hundreds each year are charged only with misdemeanors.

There are so many ill defendants, who need treatment at the state psychiatric hospital in Salem before their cases can go on, that the facility is full. So, arrestees sit in jail while awaiting hospital treatment, a situation that often exacerbates their states of mental distress.

Longstanding legal deadlines for hospital entry are routinely flouted, as was the situation Tuesday.

Bailey had ordered the two defendants in question, Carlos Zamora-Skaar and Gale Merrill, to the Oregon State Hospital because they have been deemed too mentally ill to stand trial. Zamora-Skaar faces charges of burglary and criminal mischief. Merrill is charged with attempting to evade police officers and several driving offenses.

But the psychiatric hospital has not admitted the men, despite Bailey’s court orders and the seven-day deadline established by the federal judiciary. By Tuesday, they had been in jail 12 and 14 days beyond the deadline, respectively.

On Tuesday, Bailey turned to Johnson and asked, “Is there a reason Mr. Zamora-Skaar is still here?”

The Oregon State Hospital was full, Johnson replied, and could not admit any one else without risking patient and staff safety, as well as the hospital’s “gold seal of approval” from a national accreditation agency.

So began an excruciating questioning by Bailey, during which Johnson was forced to admit the state could not help mentally ill defendants such as Zamora-Skaar, Merrill and more than 40 others waiting for hospital admission.

[Read our investigation: How Oregon ensnares mentally ill people charged with low-level crimes]

“What are we supposed to do with him?” Bailey asked about Zamora-Skaar, who was standing near the jury box, his wrists shackled to a chain around his waist, mumbling throughout the proceeding.

“I don’t have an answer to that, judge,” Johnson replied. Forcing more people into the state hospital would be “catastrophic,” he said.

“As if this isn’t catastrophic,” Bailey said, referring to the exacerbating effect of jail on Zamora-Skaar’s psyche.

Johnson said the Oregon Legislature is responsible for providing the state hospital with enough money to treat everyone necessary, and officials are working on reform legislation. Meantime, he said, the Oregon State Hospital is “out of ideas.”

Zamora-Skaar’s attorney, Amanda Thibeault, said that was no excuse to violate deadlines for hospital admission, established in 2003 in response to a lawsuit on behalf of mentally ill defendants. At the time, a judge concluded defendants were, in effect, held in indefinite detention while awaiting trial fitness treatment; the ruling was upheld in federal appeals court.

“The Oregon State Hospital has known about this for 16 years,” Thibeault said, fighting back tears. “I feel like I’m failing my client.”

Though he said he considered holding the state in contempt to persuade the Legislature to “do the right thing,” Bailey temporarily set the matter aside. He scheduled a hearing for early May, at which attorneys will argue whether the state’s actions amount to “willful” violations of court orders.

“I just want to know why my orders are not being complied with,” Bailey said, suggesting that it had been a “volitional act” by the Legislature to inadequately fund a safety net for people with mental illness.

Bailey proceeded to other cases involving mentally ill defendants, including that of Alan Gurries, charged with harassment, whom the judge ordered to the psychiatric hospital Tuesday for a mental health evaluation.

Gurries, a tall 53-year-old who was handcuffed and shackled while in court, asked Bailey, “Why am I in jail for nothing more than a harassment charge?”

“Thank you,” the judge replied, and a sheriff deputy escorted Gurries back into the jail.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

GFriedman@Oregonian.com

Correction: An earlier version of this article misquoted Judge D. Charles Bailey. He said it may have been a “volitional act” by the Legislature to inadequately fund mental health care programs.