BR Metro Councilman Proposes Banning Mental Hospitals Near Schools

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A Baton Rouge city councilman is proposing a city ordinance to prohibit opening a mental hospital too close to schools or neighborhoods.

A mental hospital was scheduled to open this month next door to Forest Heights Academy of Excellence in the Glen Oaks Neighborhood. It would have housed severely ill patients, including those who were violent and incompetent to stand trial.

Public outcry pulled the plug on the plan.

Councilman Daryl Hurst's proposed ordinance would require any future mental hospitals in the city-parish to be at least two miles away from a school, and a mile away from residences.

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