Tucson saves money by not locking up some homeless - Associated Press

Sept. 29 - A program that keeps homeless people out of jail for petty crimes has saved Tucson $3.8 million in jail costs since 2000, a city official said.

Tucson city Magistrate Michael Lex told caseworkers and others who work with the homeless how the program works during the Tucson Planning Council for the Homeless annual conference last month.

Lex created what he said was Arizona's first mental health court to help the homeless get services to help them avoid arrests and jail time.

The city court's homeless program has resulted in 31,777 charges dismissed since the program began in 2000.

Those charges represent 13,363 court dockets and nearly 6,000 individuals whose charges were thrown out after they completed a diversion program tailored to their needs.

Lex said sending homeless people to jail over and over again for petty crimes like urinating in public, trespassing and panhandling amounts to a life term on the installment plan. "It just doesn't work," he said.

After seeing the same people over and over again, Lex said he realized the mentally ill were very poorly served by the (criminal justice) system.