By Noah Powelson

The leaders of New York’s courts, a number of elected officials, lawyers and advocates together on Friday called on the state to reform its court system in a way that they say will prevent the cycle of incarceration hundreds of mentally ill New Yorkers experience every year.

At both a rally and a State Senate hearing that followed Friday morning, support was drummed up for the Treatment Court Expansion Act, which seeks to reform criminal procedure law in order to divert mentally ill persons charged with a crime away from incarceration and into Treatment Court.

The bill, if eventually passed, would allow for those charged with a crime who have a mental illness or substance-use disorder be diverted to a treatment plan, allow courts to consider offering diversion to any individual regardless of their accused crime, and remove the requirement for defendants to enter a plea deal in order to receive treatment.

The legislation has long been a priority of the court system’s current leadership, Chief Judge Rowan Wilson and Chief Administrative Judge Joseph Zayas, both of whom testified at the Friday hearing.

The bill’s supporters say TCEA would create pathways to recovery for thousands of mentally ill New Yorkers, lower recidivism rates and save the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The bill, sponsored by Queens State Senator Jessica Ramos, will be considered by the legislature in the upcoming 2026 legislative session.

At a rally held before the Senate Standing Committee on Alcoholism and Substance Use Disorders’ hearing on the TCEA, Ramos said it was time to end the cycle of incarceration some with severe mental illnesses fall into.

“Our criminal legal system has the opportunity to improve the way that we serve justice on the streets of New York,” Ramos said. “It’s no longer the 1600s, it’s not about throwing someone in the dungeon, locking them up and throwing away the key. There are consequences to that.”

“This isn’t only about compassion, it isn’t even about doing the right thing, it’s about saving the state millions of dollars at a time when we can’t rely on the federal government,” Ramos added.

Wilson, who has long advocated for the expansion and further funding of problem-solving courts like Treatment Court, also testified at the Friday hearing. He shared the story of a woman who long struggled with drug addiction but who avoided incarceration for a narcotic sales charge because the judge overseeing her case diverted her to a substance abuse program. Wilson said the woman eventually graduated the program, had her charges dismissed, and started a family upstate.

Testifying before the committee, Wilson said that often those who commit crimes that harm others do not have a support system to bring them into recovery. The story of the woman, Wilson said, is an example of the positive impact the courts can have when recovery is prioritized over punishment.

“I don’t think there’s anybody who would say that they would rather have the community be less safe than more, but the system that we have now is doing just that,” Wilson said.

There would be some upfront costs associated with the passage of the bill, but Wilson claimed the bill would pay for itself over time as incarcerating people has proven to be far more costly than treating them. Studies indicate for every $1 the state spends in treatment courts, $2.21 is saved over the course of five years, the chief judge said.

Zayas, Wilson’s top deputy, has been a fan of treatment courts for years, dating back to his time running Queens’ Criminal Court.

Queens opened its own Treatment Court 20 years ago, and while Zayas said the recent funding and expansion of problem-solving courts in general have progressed greatly over the decades, much more needs to be done to meet the mental health needs of the state and court system.

“We have come so far in the years since I started mental health court,” Zayas said. “We now have over 350 problem solving courts in New York state, including 42 mental health courts, and we serve in 27 counties. A dozen more of these courts…are in the development stage.”