Will O.C. be first large county in state to implement Laura's Law?

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A supporter falls to the ground crying at a memorial at “Kelly’s Corner” after two former Fullerton police officers were found not guilty of murder in the 2011 death of transient Kelly Thomas in Fullerton. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Kathy Thomas, mother of Kelly Thomas, receives a hug from a supporter in front of a memorial at “Kelly’s Corner.” (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Protesters march outside the Fullerton police station after two former officers were acquitted in the killing of Kelly Thomas. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Friends, family and supporters stand at “Kelly’s Corner” on Monday night after two former Fullerton police officers were found not guilty of the murder of Kelly Thomas. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Ron and Kathy Thomas embrace outside the Santa Ana Courthouse Monday after two Fullerton police officers were found not guilty in the murder of their son Kelly. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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As supporters hug, Kathy Thomas sits in a chair outside the Santa Ana Courthouse on Monday after two Fullerton police officers were found not guilty in the murder of her son Kelly. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Ron Thomas, the father of slain Kelly Thomas, hugs Marlena Carrillo outside the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana after the arraignment hearing. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A supporter of Kelly’s Army pays his respects at the site in Fullerton where Kelly Thomas was involved in an altercation with police that led to his death. (Barbara Davidson / The Los Angeles Times)

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Members of Kelly’s Army chant “two down four to go” outside the Fullerton Police Department after two officers were charged in connection with the death of Kelly Thomas. Thomas, a schizophrenic, homeless man, died five days after an altercation with police. (Barbara Davidson / The Los Angeles Times)

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Charlotte Cianciola of Buena Park gets emotional as the District Attorney announces that criminal charges have been filed against two of the six Fullerton police officers involved in the beating death of Kelly Thomas. (GIna Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas at the news conference in Santa Ana where he announced charges would be brought against two Fullerton police officers in the death of Kelly Thomas. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Christine Walker, center, of Fullerton, joins a crowd outside the Santa Ana civic center watching a TV broadcast of Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas’ news conference. (GIna Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Staff members listen as their boss Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas addresses a press conference announcing charges against two Fullerton police officers for the beating death of 37-year-old homeless man Kelly Thomas. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Larry Dewitt Williams, 56, gathers with other supporters in front of the Orange County district attorney’s office to show support for Kelly Thomas’ family. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Ron Thomas embraces Susan Wright after she delivered an emotional plea to the Fullerton City Council for better treatment of the mentally ill. Thomas and hundreds of supporters attended the meeting hours after the release of the coroner’s report on the death of his son, Kelly, at the hands of Fullerton police. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Fullerton City Council member Sharon Quirk-Silva, left, and Fullerton resident Erin Lewis, right, comfort Cathy Thomas after the council voted to retain an outside investigator to look into the death of Thomas’ son, Kelly, after a confrontation with Fullerton police. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Cathy Thomas visits a memorial for her son Kelly at the Fullerton Transportation Center. She stops there several times a week to water the flowers and talk to people who pass by. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Fullerton Police Captain Kevin Hamilton, above, was named acting chief of police after Chief Michael Sellers went on medical leave in the wake of the death of Kelly Thomas in July. (Mark Boster/ Los Angeles Times)

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People outside the Fullerton police station protest the death of Kelly Thomas. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)

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Gary Tayles, 45, of Los Angeles joins a group outside the Fullerton police station protesting the death of Kelly Thomas. (Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times)

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Cathy Thomas, left, shakes hands with Fullerton police officers who barricaded a street to make room for a demonstration protesting the beating and death of Kelly Thomas. (Alex Gallardo / Associated Press)

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Fullerton Police Chief Michael Sellers talks with the city attorney before a City Council meeting. Many residents have called for him to resign. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

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An overflow crowd watches a TV monitor outside City Council chambers as the public voices outrage over the death of Kelly Thomas, 37, a schizophrenic homeless man who was killed during an altercation with Fullerton police on July 5. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

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An impromptu sidewalk memorial has been set up for Kelly Thomas, 37, a homeless schizophrenic man who died five days after a run-in with Fullerton police in early July at a bus depot off South Pomona Avenue. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Passersby stop to read notes left at a memorial for Kelly Thomas. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A woman holds a drawing of a police officer behind bars as Ron Thomas asks the Fullerton City Council for answers about his son Kelly’s death. Residents packed the council chambers and an overflow area for the Aug. 2 meeting. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Fullerton resident Michelle Kearney hugs Ron Thomas, father of Kelly Thomas. Residents packed the City Council chambers and an overflow area to express their outrage over the police beating of Kelly Thomas, who later died. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Cathy Thomas, mother of Kelly Thomas, listens to public comment during the Fullerton City Council meeting. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Residents stand and applaud as Ron Thomas is given more time to speak to the City Council about the police beating and subsequent death of his son, Kelly Thomas, last month. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

By Paloma Esquivel

May 13, 2014 6:25 AM PT

The Orange County Board of Supervisors is set to vote Tuesday on whether to implement Laura’s Law, allowing court-ordered treatment for the severely mentally ill.

If approved, Orange County would become the first large county in the state to adopt the program.

Laura’s Law has languished in California since 2002, when it was adopted by state legislators with the caveat that each county approve its own program. Only Nevada County has fully implemented it.

The law received renewed attention in Orange County after the death of Kelly Thomas, a homeless man who suffered from schizophrenia and died after a confrontation with Fullerton police.

The proposal before the supervisors calls for allocating about $4.4 million per year in Mental Health Services Act funds to provide assessment and treatment for an estimated 120 people, said Annette Mugrditchian, director of adult and older adult services at the Orange Health Care Agency.

The county will need to allocate additional funds to provide for legal and other costs associated with the program.

Families of adults suffering from mental illness began aggressively lobbying the county to implement the law soon after Thomas’ death in 2011. They say court-ordered treatment for severely mentally ill patients who sometimes don’t recognize their own illnesses could help reduce the number of mentally ill adults who end up homeless or in jail.

Critics say the law dangerously lowers the threshold for taking away a person’s basic rights.

Supervisor John Moorlach said implementation of the law was stymied for a time by lack of funding, a problem he said was solved with the recent passage of statewide legislation clarifying that money from the Mental Health Services Act, a voter-approved 1% income tax on personal income above $1 million, can be used for Laura’s Law.

“The goal would be if we could provide services to help these individuals, young or old, to avoid a life of crime or a life of homelessness,” he said. “At the end of the day we would save a lot more by not having to incarcerate them or put them in a temporary homeless shelter or some other related costs.”

To qualify, a person must suffer from mental illness, be unlikely to survive safely in the community without supervision and have a history of lack of compliance with treatment, among other qualifications. They must also have a recent history of violence, jailings or hospitalizations because of mental illness.

Ann Menasche, staff attorney at Disability Rights California, said the law unnecessarily tramples on the rights of those who suffer from mental illness.

“We’re doing an experiment in taking away people’s rights when it’s not necessary, when we have effective programs that work, they just need more funding,” she said.

Ron Thomas, father of Kelly Thomas, said he will be at the supervisors’ meeting Tuesday to lobby for court-ordered treatment.

“When someone is gravely disabled like Kelly was, you can’t consciously make a decision,” he said. “Kelly never knew he was sick.”