INDIANAPOLIS – One local sheriff says when releasing prisoners back into society, the goal is to have the convict better off than when they entered jail.
Franklin County Sheriff Ken Murphy told a legislative committee that the goal is simply not being met for some inmates that deal with mental illness.
Murphy, along with Howard County Sheriff Steve Rogers, testified Monday in Indianapolis about the current dilemma of mentally ill inmates in Indiana’s county jails.
The state closed many mental hospitals in the 1980’s as part of a shift toward community-based programs.
Since then, Murphy says county jails have become the “insane asylum” in Indiana.
“Many of the crimes they commit are due to their mental illness. Then they get caught up in this revolving door of the justice system and treated like any other inmate. Their mental illness is never truly treated,” the Franklin County sheriff said.
“So it’s just an endless game of they’re out-they’re in [of jail], and it’s a matter of whether we pay now or pay later.”
Jails could likely be the largest mental health facilities in some counties as community resources are just not available, the sheriffs said.
Murphy adds that his sheriff’s department generally deals with mentally ill individuals who struggle financially.
“The inmate population we deal with has no money, no insurance and no job. The idea of privatization is great for people who can afford it. But, we are dealing with a totally different population that does not have those resources.
Murphy told legislators a solution could be found by developing a financial strategy which could lead to the reopening of up-to-date regional mental health facilities.
Until a new solution is developed, Murphy says inmates “are not getting the intensified counseling and probably a lot of the medications they need.”
“We are better people than this. We don’t have to treat people like this when they are suffering from mental illness.”
