He had been in her Madison County courtroom repeatedly for traffic violations and writing bad checks. He is unemployed, homeless and mentally unstable, Hall said.

Arrested again recently on a drug charge and failure to pay child support, he ended up in a hospital psychiatric unit for observation.

"When hospital personnel told him he was going to be discharged, he threatened to commit suicide," she said.

He fit the profile for mental health court, a program designed to reduce repeated minor crimes by people with mental illness. Felons or violent offenders don't qualify.

Hall's is the second mental health court to start in Huntsville in the past week. Huntsville Municipal Judge Sybil Cleveland held the first session of the city's mental health court Friday.

It is estimated that 16 percent all prison and jail inmates nationwide have a mental illness that can be diagnosed.

Dr. Gary Porier, executive director of the Huntsville-Madison County Mental Health Center, said he has long envisioned courts in Huntsville working with mental health professionals to help mentally ill prisoners.

"We noticed that a lot of times our clients were disappearing and then turning up in a jail because of minor crimes," he said. "They committed their crimes because of their mental illnesses. Jail is not a place to treat the mentally ill."

Other local mental health advocates say the mental health courts can benefit the community.

"We believe the program will benefit taxpayers, because it will reduce the tendency of inmates continually cycling through the criminal justice system," said Howard Fry of National Alliance for the Mentally Ill-Huntsville. "They will be diagnosed, get treatment and get well."

The man chosen for Hall's first case said he was happy in jail, because he didn't have anywhere to go, Hall said. "Our penal system is not designed for that," she said.

The staff at the Mental Health Center was able to get the man stabilized. He was placed in a local homeless shelter.

Over the next 90 days, the man will undergo an intensive treatment schedule for his illness through the Mental Health Center, and he has to appear in court about twice a month. The center will also help the man find other services he needs to become self-sufficient. When he graduates from program, the court will follow up on him for a year.

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