Undersheriff Matt Kelly made an passionate plea to mental health field leaders, county leaders and state representatives and senators for help with an issue he says has grown out of control. He says more and more they are dealing with inmates with mental health issues who require constant supervision. Many of the inmates come in after committing crimes at the Osawatomie State Hospital and when they come in, they are often violent and require medication, which the county is required to purchase. That added medication cost can also be sizable.
Kelly said that almost 52% of the current inmate population is on some sort of mental health medication. Kelly gave an example of an inmate who was in the jail for three years waiting on a competency evaluation at Larned State Hospital. It cost the county over $127,000 to house that inmate for three years, including medication. All parties agreed to work together to reach solutions to the issues.
