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Abstract: 

When Matt Burns was processed for intake at the Robertson County (Tenn.) Detention Facility (RCDF), officers accepted at face value his response of “no” on the question of whether he had received treatment for a mental health condition. In fact, his psychiatrist had diagnosed Burns with severe depression and bipolar disorder and in the year before he committed suicide in the RCDF, Matt had received treatment at both a mental health facility and a detoxification center. On the evening of his arrest for armed robbery, three calls from family members to the jail warning officials that the detainee had documented mental health problems and was a serious suicide risk went unreported to the facility’s medical and custody staff. The adequacy of care and competence of staff were central issues in a ruling by a federal district court allowing a negligence suit to proceed to jury trial. This article comprehensively examines the facts in Burns v. Robertson County, concluding that the conditions are not so different from those at hundreds of jails around the country faced with handling mentally disordered inmates with staff who are insufficiently trained in the knowledge and procedures for doing so.

Keywords: Burns v. Robertson Co.; suicide screening

Affiliations:  1: Executive Editor.