Mental Health Court to be established

South Carolina Chief Justice Donald Beatty believes there’s demonstrated need for a mental health court in Anderson County to divert mentally ill persons from jails.  In an order this week, Beatty appointed At-Large Judge Cordell Maddox to preside over the Anderson Mental Health Court and Judge Lawton McIntosh as his backup.  The chief justice acknowledged that David Wagner, 10th circuit solicitor, moved for an order to provide the essential administrative framework for the program and the appointment of a presiding judge.  Any eligible defendant, suffering from mental illness, may be transferred into the program, on the approval of the solicitor.