Houston County's Sheriff says a growing population of mentally ill inmates is causing problems at the jail. He is asking for $5 million in the upcoming SPLOST to separate the mentally ill from the general population.
Talton says state budget cuts to mental health services for inmates put the burden on the county.
He said for many years the state came to pick-up mentally ill inmates."We would ship them off to Central State or somewhere like that. Now, we have to hold them."
Talton described the issue as being " one of the biggest problems with all the sheriffs in the state of Georgia". He said, "We don't have anywhere to put these mental patients."
Jail administrator Charles Holt says the state cut funding to local resources for treating the mentally ill and drug addicted. Now, he says that cost often falls on the county, too.
Holt said, "Were providing the service they once received on the street, and when they re-offend, it's just an ongoing continuous circle."
Talton says it also a safety issue. He said, "They get into fights, put things down the commode. It's dangerous for the officers, dangerous for some of the other inmates, causes problems if they get in a fight, and have to go to the hospital. All this stuff. It's an additional cost."
For those reasons he wants to build a pod to separate the mentally ill from the general population, using money from the 2012 proposed SPLOST.
The new jail unit would include what they call "rubber rooms." Holt said they offer padded walls and padded floors to protect the inmates from hurting themselves.
The pod would be built at the front of the jail for the guards to keep a close watch and have the ability to respond quickly to emergencies.
The Sheriff's SPLOST requests also include a new Emergency 911 radio system, an expansion to the records portion of the sheriff's office and 14 new vehicles.
Talton said he wants to be able to assign a car to each deputy to cut down on maintenance costs. He said right now, two deputies are assigned to share one vehicle. They cars usually last about two years. He said with one vehicle for every deputy, the cars would last five years.
Houston County voters can vote on the SPLOST plan March 6th.