Mental health courts reduce crime rates.

This paper studies the effect of mental health courts on crime rates for violent and property crimes. Mental health courts are intended to help offenders with mental illnesses treat their illnesses and get them on the right track so they can be law abiding citizens. Uniform Crime Reporting county-level data and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration data was used in order to run regressions. The regressions showed that rape, assault, motor vehicle theft, and larceny were reduced in counties with mental health courts. This study is one of the first studies to look at the nationwide success of mental health courts.