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Gov. Terry Branstad has proposed closing two of the state's four institutes for people with mental illnesses. The proposal startled legislators of both parties, although the idea of closing at least one of the institutes has been debated off and on for decades, as their populations dwindled and costs soared. (Leys, 1/15)

The proposed closure of two state mental institutions would eliminate more than half the inpatient psychiatric beds available in the southern third of Iowa, a Des Moines Register analysis shows. Gov. Terry Branstad announced this week that he wants to close the Mental Health Institutes located in the southern Iowa communities of Mount Pleasant and Clarinda. A state spokeswoman said Thursday the two facilities have a total capacity of 113 psychiatric beds. (Leys, 1/15)

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says he wants to revisit mental health issues this legislative session [in Wisconsin] with a focus on improving access to care. Vos, a Rochester Republican, created a task force last session to examine mental health needs in the state and has formed a new Assembly committee to work on mental health reform this session. (1/15)

South Carolina's prisons would hire more mental health specialists, create safer surroundings and offer more monitoring for mental illness among inmates, under a preliminary agreement with an advocacy group that was announced Thursday. The state and the advocates have been in mediation since last year, when a judge sided with inmates and Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities, which had sued the Department of Corrections in 2005. Their lawsuit alleged a lack of effective counseling and too much reliance on tactics like isolation and force to subdue mentally ill prisoners, all in violation of the Constitution. (Kinnard, 1/15)

The Miami-Dade County Jail’s notorious ninth-floor psychiatric ward — which became a national symbol for the shoddy treatment of the mentally ill behind bars — is no more. After years of criticism and a stinging federal investigation, jailers have quietly shuttered the floor, moving hundreds of mentally ill inmates to newly refurbished and more comfortable units at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. (Ovalle, 1/15)