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Cobb sheriff says jail has become de facto mental‑health provider; office added 24‑hour clinicians and padded rooms
Summary
Sheriff Craig Owens told Cobb County listeners that jail now houses many people with mental‑health needs, described steps the sheriff's office has taken — 24‑hour mental‑health coverage, telemedicine, padded cells and de‑escalation tools — and stressed the limits of local capacity when state inpatient resources are scarce.
Sheriff Craig Owens said Cobb County’s detention center now houses a large number of people with mental‑health issues and that the jail has become “your de facto mental‑health care institution.” Owens described new and planned changes intended to reduce risks and improve care, while warning that local officials cannot solve statewide capacity shortfalls alone.
Owens, speaking on the Cobb County Smart Justice Works podcast hosted by Solicitor General Mackie Metzger, said the sheriff’s office now has a 24‑hour mental‑health professional available either in person or by telemedicine and uses deputies’ body‑camera footage during intake so clinicians can see and evaluate people as they are booked. “We were the first sheriff’s office to have a 24‑hour mental‑health care professional on‑site,” Owens said.
Those operational changes are intended to improve clinical triage and reduce self‑harm. Owens said the jail has increased the number of padded cells and is planning future infirmary and mental‑health wards in any new facility design so treatment spaces do not resemble standard jail cells. “We can secure them but still get the treatment,” he said, describing facilities that look less like a traditional cell and more like a mental‑health treatment area.
Why it matters: Owens and Metzger discussed how lack of state inpatient beds and delays in court‑ordered competency exams add to jail populations and lengthen stays for people who have not been convicted. Owens said some people can wait years for competency evaluations because the state system is limited, and he noted that local community providers — Highland Rivers and other community service boards — lack bed capacity.
The sheriff framed the local work as a stopgap: deputies and jail staff must provide medical support, medication administration and de‑escalation while broader policy and funding changes are needed at state and federal levels. Owens said many detainees require ongoing medication and clinical oversight: “They start pill calling in the morning at 7 and don’t finish at 7 at night,” he said, emphasizing staffing and cost pressures.
Discussion vs. direction vs. decision: Owens described operational decisions already made (24‑hour clinician coverage, expanded padded cells, use of telemedicine and body camera footage in intake). He framed longer‑term decisions — building an infirmary/mental‑health ward — as planning goals contingent on funding and facility design rather than actions already taken. No formal policy changes or ordinances were voted on during the recorded conversation.
What officials said: Sheriff Craig Owens discussed treatment, intake procedures and facility planning. Solicitor General Mackie Metzger asked questions and summarized community impacts; she noted family exhaustion when caring for relatives with severe mental‑health needs.
Ending: Owens said long‑term relief requires coordinated action across local, state and federal levels, including more state inpatient capacity and funding for community resources. “It’s gonna have to be all levels to help out in this mental‑health care,” he said.
