AUGUSTA – The King administration promised Wednesday to comply by December with a court decree to improve conditions at the state mental hospital in Augusta.

Mental Health Commissioner Lynn Duby said in a letter to Court Master Gerald Rodman that she has outlined the steps necessary to reach compliance by December.

A consent decree ordering the improvements results from a class action lawsuit more than a decade ago in which patients at the Augusta Mental Health Institute claimed they were subjected to substandard conditions.

Rodman has been monitoring and enforcing the state’s compliance with the consent decree.

Duby said that since 1990, a statewide, community-based system of mental health care has been developed. A 24-hour crisis response system also is in place and case managers are available to guide clients to services they need.

Duby added that $100 million in federal and state money has been invested in Maine’s public mental health system during the past decade.