The DeKalb Misdemeanor Mental Health Court (MMHC), formerly operational as the Diversion Treatment Court (DTC), was established in May 2001 and is the longest-running mental health court of its kind in Georgia. The development of DTC, a diversion accountability court, was inspired by the knowledge that approximately 18-20% of the jail population suffers from a serious mental illness. To date, more than 1500 participants have been referred to DTC. The DTC operated under the direction of the Magistrate Court of DeKalb County and was inspired through a collaborative partnership effort. In early 1999, retired Chief Magistrate Winston P. Bethel; a National Alliance on Mental Illness advocate, Flo Giltman; Attorney Jim Sanders; and Psychiatrist, Emile Risby, a group of four, met to initiate, through a conjoined effort to decriminalize incarcerated defendants with serious mental illness. The DTC, with no funding, began in 2001 with a strong commitment from partners possessing the collective vision and need to decriminalize the mentally ill and to move defendants from jail into treatment.