A McLean County judge says delays in placing mentally ill inmates in state hospitals shift the burden for their care to county jails and deny defendants their right to a timely psychiatric evaluation. 58-year-old Anita Jumper has been waiting in jail for more than a month for a bed at Springfield's McFarland Mental Health Center.
Jumper was found not guilty by reason of insanity Feb. 28 in the 2015 arson of her Bloomington apartment. Illinois law requires Jumper be transferred to McFarland.
Defense lawyer Jennifer Patton told Judge Scott Drazewski that the Illinois Department of Human Services has asked for an extension of its 30-day deadline to submit a report on Jumper's treatment. Drazewski says he recently received a similar request for an extension in another case.
