Defence lawyer Bob Harrison has spent almost 40 years practising in Brandon and brings up the need for a mental health court whenever he has a chance.

“I’m always yapping about it,” Harrison said. “We’ve got a lot of mental health problems in this area, so that’s why I keep going on about it.”

Manitoba’s only mental health court is in Winnipeg. Established in 2012 as a joint initiative between Shared Health, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and Manitoba Justice, its purpose is to divert adults whose crimes are a direct result of their mental illness out of the regular court system.

Harrison said people with mental illness typically don’t function well in jail because they are “prone to getting picked on.”

A mental health court program could result in a person receiving a community-ba

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