House Bill 307, also known as Iryna’s Law, took effect in North Carolina on Dec. 1. The bill moved rapidly through the N.C. legislature and will invoke many changes to the process of criminal justice in the state, including the elimination of cashless bail and involuntary holding of criminals for mental health reasons.

The bill is named for 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was killed while on the light rail in Charlotte. The suspected attacker was diagnosed with schizophrenia and had a history of arrests. He was last arrested for misuse of 911 and released from jail on a written promise to appear. 

Many of the bill’s changes respond directly to the circumstances of Zarutska’s murder. Pretrial release on a written promise to appear, as well as for those with previous or violent offenses, will be taken away. It also requires judicial officials to screen violent offenders for involuntary mental health commitment. 

Elizabeth Simpson is the strategic director of Emancipate N.C. and adjunct law professor at UNC-Chapel Hill specializing in criminal justice policy. Simpson said she thinks that bail rules will be tightened, making it more difficult for people to get out of jail before their trial.

“I would expect that, contrary to what activists are asking for, which is fewer people going to jail, better services, more humane programming and conditions for those people who do have to be in there, it’s sort of the opposite direction, of warehousing a large number of people who have not been found guilty,” Simpson said. “They’re just going to be stuck there until they can plead.”

Jail, or pretrial detention, is usually the first stop in the criminal prosecution system. Certain defendants can be held in jail until their legal hearing, anywhere from a couple of days to a few months. 

Toia Potts, a mother and activist advocating for welfare system reform, shared her experiences spending eight months in jail awaiting her hearing. Potts said her time in jail was traumatic and that she left worse than she went in.

“I’m supposed to have lost my mind by now,” Potts said. “Because, my rights are terminated, which means I no longer have any ties to my oldest children. My children are now nine and seven. I literally don’t even know anything. I don’t see them, I don’t talk to them, I don’t get updates. I don’t get pictures, anything.”

Potts lost custody of her children when she was put in jail. Even though she was found innocent, her children had been put into foster care and reunification efforts were repeatedly denied. Now, Potts cannot contact her two eldest sons until they turn 18.

“And when I got out of jail on pretrial, before my charges were dismissed, I came out worse than I went in,” Potts said. “Because, like I said, I got out. I literally had my ID, which was expired, the clothes I got arrested in, and my phone that was not on.”

Studies have shown that spending even one day in jail has adverse effects on a person’s mental health. Despite the fact that about two in five incarcerated people have a history of mental illness, jails often do not have the resources to address acute mental health crises.

Though Iryna’s Law mandates more involuntary mental health care, it does not allocate more funding to mental health programs in the state. 

Barbara-Ann Bybel, director of psychiatry services and vice chair at UNC Health, said that UNC hospitals have started preparing for the effects of the law. 

“Most of what we’re predicting is the possibility of a large increase in volumes of people presenting in the emergency room for a psychiatric evaluation,” Bybel said. “So the law was implemented, I believe, with the best intentions to really try to improve public safety, but trying to put a lot more work into place without the funding or the resources is really a strain both on the health care side and the criminal justice side.”

Though Iryna’s Law does not provide specific funding for mental health care, a pilot program has been introduced by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services and First Lady Anna Stein. The initiative commits $9.5 million to helping people who have severe mental health needs and are involved in the justice system. The program will establish Forensic Assertive Community Treatment (FACT) teams based in Pitt, New Hanover, Wake, Durham, Buncombe and Mecklenburg counties.

As the bill goes into effect this month, county jails and mental health hospitals around the state anticipate increased numbers, straining already understaffed workforces.

“People thinking that all violent criminals have a serious mental health issue, which is not at all necessarily true,” Bybel said. “You know, when someone is sick, we do want them to get help. And by recriminalizing mental illness and putting all criminals into a behavioral health setting, I just really feel that that’s a big step backwards.”