Baden-Württemberg: Schwäbisch Hall agrees to a new clinic for forensic treatment

Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - The state can create urgently needed therapy places for mentally ill and addicted offenders in Schwäbisch Hall.

Baden-Württemberg: Schwäbisch Hall agrees to a new clinic for forensic treatment

Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - The state can create urgently needed therapy places for mentally ill and addicted offenders in Schwäbisch Hall. The municipal council has cleared the way for a new correctional clinic, as announced by the Ministry of Social Affairs on Thursday. This clears the way for the state to submit a planning application to the city. "I can understand the initial concerns on the ground, but the city and state pulled together," said Minister Manne Lucha (Greens).

The forensic prison will therefore be located in a popular commercial area. In return, the city will receive services in return - so the state will continuously increase its contribution to financing the Schwäbisch Hall campus of Heilbronn University in the coming years. "In addition, the city, university and state have agreed to work together on the further development of Schwäbisch Hall as a university location - this is an important location factor for us," said Schwäbisch Hall's Lord Mayor Daniel Bullinger. The plans envisage a construction period until the end of 2024. The state will bear the investment costs of over 100 million euros.

The correctional facility in the southwest is bursting at the seams. In the Southwest there are eight psychiatric centers with 1,000 beds in forensic institutions that are 130 percent occupied. Beds in containers, common rooms and corridors make this possible. More and more criminals are being released because they no longer have a place. According to the Ministry of Justice, there were a total of 6 in 2020, and 32 in 2021. 82 drug-addicted offenders were hoping for a place in therapy at the end of April - 75 of them would have waited more than three months. Once this period has expired, the offenders can apply for release.