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The governor made passing reference to the 82 deaths, but said he would seek a law that requires all deaths in state mental facilities be reported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for review.

"There's no excuse for not having mandatory reporting of deaths in our facilities," Easley said. "Secretary Benton has started a policy that requires they mandatorily be reported. I believe that ought to be enacted into law."

Rewind to 2001

Easley repeated his contention Tuesday that former DHHS Secretary Carmen Hooker Odom, who resigned last summer to take a job as head of a health policy think tank, fought the passage of the 2001 reform package. That legislation came after several state studies and a U.S. Supreme Court decision all pointed toward changes that would treat more of the mentally ill in the community.

"Our administration, that secretary, we all vigorously opposed it because it was just too broad, not enough accountability," Easley said. "Now, that said, the focus of the department today, and my focus, is where do we go going forward. I don't want to get into a big debate about who was for and who was against anything."

In fact, Hooker Odom wrote the cover letter for the 2001 reform plan and cited Easley's leadership as inspiration.

"I made the commitment to you to make mental health ... one of my highest priorities," Hooker Odom wrote in the letter, which was addressed to all North Carolinians. "I began that commitment by developing, in collaboration with the North Carolina Legislature, a state plan for mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse services. I am presenting to you with pride and enthusiasm, 'The State Plan 2001: A Blueprint for Change.' "

In an opinion article contributed to The News & Observer that year, Hooker Odom wrote: "Reform has been attempted many times, but this effort is going to succeed because the time is right."

Efforts to reach Hooker Odom failed Tuesday.

The primary legislative sponsor of the reform bill, Rep. Verla Insko, said Tuesday that Hooker Odom expressed no concerns to her about the plan.

"She was not vigorously opposed to it," said Insko, a Chapel Hill Democrat. "I don't remember her ever speaking to me before it passed."

The legislator said no one from the governor's office ever talked to her about the bill, either. Insko said a DHHS representative met with legislators to discuss two or three details in the proposal that the department wanted changed, but no one with the Easley administration objected to the entire proposal.

"The department didn't oppose it," Insko said Tuesday.

Easley said Tuesday that Insko's memory is faulty.

"I can see where Rep. Insko could be distracted with other issues," Easley said. "Keep in mind, this this passed in October, right after September 11. ... People were distracted with other significant issues."

A push for oversight

Asked whether he accepted any responsibility for the failure of mental health reform, Easley said that perhaps DHHS could have provided more oversight.

"But I still have to come back and say this is not a manageable situation," Easley said. "So everybody can accept responsibility. We can sit up here blame anybody you want to blame. ... This will not work if the secretary does not get some managing tools so he can supervise these people who are getting billions of dollars of taxpayers' money, then the problem will continue because there's no way to hold anybody accountable."

(Staff writer Lynn Bonner contributed to this report.)

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