Sheriff: 1 in 5 Knox Co. inmates is mentally ill

Sheriff: 1 in 5 Knox Co. inmates is mentally ill

By HARLOW SUMERFORD
6 News Reporter

KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- There are roughly 1,000 inmates in Knox County's jail and detention center. Some are violent. Some are small-time crooks.

Knox County Sheriff J.J. Jones says many are mentally ill.

"Probably about $400,000 a year is what we spend just on psychotropic drugs to treat the mentally ill. I'll tell you, we are the largest mental health facility in East Tennessee," says Jones.

Twenty percent, or 200 inmates, is the sheriff's conservative estimate of how many are mentally ill.

However, Dr. Clif Tennison, a trained physiatrist who's been evaluating the mental state of inmates for more than 25 years, believes the problem is much greater.

"That doesn't count people who are quietly mentally ill, quietly psychotic, quietly suicidal and we don't know about," Dr. Tennison says.

Special needs inmates live in the general population. Jail employees administer their medication, but aren't medically trained.

Mentally ill inmates are believed to stay in jail an estimated 14 to 16 days longer than the average inmate. One reason is, many have no family support to help them navigate the criminal justice system.

"You take this human being and lock them in a cage, it's going to make their mental illness worse. If you get on maximum or 23 hour lockdown, it will make it even worse than that," Dr. Tennison says.

When mentally ill inmates serve their time and leave the detention center, the sheriff says typically they're given a 30 day supply of medication. Too often, he says, they're back before the month is up.

"Either they lose it, someone steals it, or it's misplaced somehow and they don't take their medicine. In three or four days, the vicious cycle starts again and they are arrested for shoplifting, trespassing, disorderly conduct or something like that," Sheriff Jones says.

The sheriff believes these people need treatment, not jail. 

Jones and Dr. Tennison support an overhaul to the system that includes three steps:

• A Community Safety Center would be set up in Knox County. The cost to the county would initially be around $2 million a year. Instead of going to jail, the arresting officer could bring someone to the facility for an evaluation.
• The next step is a state funded Crisis Intervention Facility. If treatment is needed, the person would be sent there.
• The final step is housing and case management 

"I say again, it's not fair to the mentally ill people and it's not fair for the taxpayer to foot the bill. So this is a win-win situation," Sheriff Jones says.

The proposal is still in the planning stages, but Jones says he has the support of law enforcement and the mental health community.