Lt Shane Nolte is a 25-year veteran of the Fairhope (Alabama) Police Department. A Fairhope native, his connection with the community has been essential to his law enforcement philosophy. While serving in the Investigations Division, he also performed the duties of School Resource Officer and dealt with juvenile crimes. Currently, he is the department’s Public Information Officer and specializes in incidents involving mental health issues.

Krista Thronson is the Court Liaison and Assisted OutPatient Supervisor for Altapointe Health in Fairhope, Alabama (Baldwin County). She is also a Medical Expert Witness for those petitioned through the probate court for Involuntary Commitment and currently serves as a contact point for Crisis in the community for Law Enforcement. She supervises the  Assisted Out Patient Treatment (AOT) team that works with the mentally ill, who are placed on Out-Patient Commitment Order through our Probate court, for follow up with mental health treatment on an outpatient basis. Krista has her Masters in Mental Health Counseling from Walden University and a BA in Criminal Justice from St. Thomas University.

B.J. Wagner, MS, possesses a unique blend of first-hand law enforcement experience and a deep knowledge of police policy and operating procedures, program evaluation, technical advising and procedural reviews. A noted leader in law enforcement policy, her 2019 review of the Austin Police Department resulted in significant departmental policy improvements regarding the city’s audit response and its capacity to capably deal with mental health-related situations. And, as the primary architect of the RIGHT Care-Dallas program, and engineer of many of Texas’ prison reentry systems, her work has led to the development of nationally recognized and internationally awarded law enforcement, criminal justice, crisis intervention and response systems.

In 2015, B.J. joined the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute (MMHPI), leading its work in Smart Justice. In that capacity, she has helped expand its reach to larger behavioral and health systems and assisted communities across Texas to both increase prevention and intervention services and reduce chronic crisis cycles and justice involvement for people with complex healthcare needs.

In October of 2019, BJ was appointed by the University of North Texas Dallas through a unique relationship with MMHPI as the Interim Executive Director of the Caruth Police Institute and appointed as Executive Director in July of 2020. In this role, B.J. will set strategic goals and plans to shape the future of the Institute’s police training, education, academic offerings, and research, as well as determining the development of capacity for evaluation, policy analysis, professional consultation, and technical assistance.

Dr. Margie Balfour is a psychiatrist and national leader in quality improvement and behavioral health crisis services.  She is the Chief of Quality and Clinical Innovation at Connections Health Solutions, which provides 24/7 access to mental health and substance use care throughout Arizona, and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Arizona.  Dr. Balfour was named the Doctor of the Year by the National Council for Behavioral Health for her work at the Crisis Response Center in Tucson and received the Tucson Police Department’s medal of honor for her efforts to help law enforcement better serve the mentally ill population.  She is a co-author of the book People with Mental Illness in the Criminal Justice System: Answering a Cry for Help and has served on the board of directors of the American Association of Community Psychiatrists, The American Association for Emergency Psychiatry, and NAMI Southern Arizona.  She received a BA in Biology at Johns Hopkins University, her MD and PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Cincinnati, and completed residency and fellowship in Public Psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

John Snook Is the director of government relations and strategic initiatives for the National Association for Behavioral Healthcare. Previously, John had served as executive director of the Treatment Advocacy Center since 2015. TAC is widely recognized as one of the most influential mental health advocacy organizations in existence today. More than half of the states have reformed their mental health laws as a result of the Treatment Advocacy Center’s advocacy, and their original research on issues such as the criminalization of mental illness has reshaped the national narrative on the treatment of severe mental illness.

Mr. Snook brings the organization more than 15 years of policy and advocacy experience at both the federal and state levels. Prior to joining the Treatment Advocacy Center, John worked on policy issues at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and at Habitat for Humanity International.

At Habitat, John grew the nascent state and local advocacy network into a driving nationwide force for affordable housing policy. John also co-led Habitat’s response to the foreclosure crisis, ultimately resulting in thousands of new Habitat homes and more than $350 million in new funding to address foreclosed properties.

John’s true passion has always been mental health reform. His focus on the issue began in law school, as he saw a loved one struggle with untreated mental illness. John championed mental illness reform, working first with the West Virginia Supreme Court on mental health issues and then at the Treatment Advocacy Center as an advocate for state mental health reform. His return as executive director represents a homecoming to these important issues.

John received his J.D. from the George Mason School of Law and his B.A. from Washington & Jefferson College.