Nevada Pushes Back on California's Claims of Mental Patient Dumping

State officials say evidence is lacking

Faced with threatened legal action from San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera who accuses Nevada of dumping mental patients on his jurisdiction, state officials on Monday said evidence to support his claims is insufficient.

In August, Herrera gave Silver State officials had until Monday to negotiate an agreement to avoid being sued.

The letter dated Monday and sent to Herrera by Linda C. Anderson, chief deputy attorney general at the Nevada attorney general's office, says that documents requested by Herrera's office and provided by the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, "demonstrate that the policies are appropriate and that proper discharges were made."

"You made a demand for approximately $500,000 but you fail to provide details to support your claim including how you identified the 20 patients," the letter says. "Moreover, you do not provide sufficient explanation of your legal theory or standing for the initiation of a lawsuit by you on behalf of the 'affected California cities and counties.'"