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Washoe County Sheriff highlights jail mental‑health unit, MAT growth and forensic lab workload
Summary
Washoe County Sheriff's Office briefed the Assembly Judiciary Committee on strategic policing priorities, expansion of medication‑assisted treatment (MAT) and a new jail‑based mental‑health unit showing early stabilization outcomes for in‑custody patients.
Sheriff Darren Baleman and Lieutenant Jason Walker told the Assembly Judiciary Committee that Washoe County has implemented a jail‑based mental‑health unit and expanded medication‑assisted treatment that officials said are producing measurable improvements in detainee stability and program participation.
"We have about 30 inmates in [the mental‑health unit] now, and a year ago many of those inmates were only allowed to come out one or two at a time because of their instability. We are seeing now all 30 are out all the time," Sheriff Baleman said, describing the new unit’s clinical staffing and deputy training.
Washoe described a two‑year state grant that funded the jail mental‑health unit. Officials said the unit has seven clinicians and ten specially trained deputies; staff track social interaction, medication adherence, sleep and personal care, and provide programs delivered by clinicians and trained deputies. Sheriff Baleman said the county plans to seek future funding to sustain the program beyond the grant period.
Washoe also reported expansion of its medication‑assisted treatment (MAT) program: MAT participants increased from 130 in 2023 to 198 in 2024 (a rise Washoe characterized as roughly 35 percent). The detention services unit reported transporting 616 inmates to alternative programs and helping more than 4,100 service requests for release planning.
The county’s forensic science division reported substantial workload: controlled‑substances testing (with methamphetamine and fentanyl among top substances), DNA casework and firearms analysis. Washoe’s forensic director provided counts of submitted assignments and completed reports and described testing backlogs and capacity constraints common to regional laboratories.
Other details in the Washoe presentation included staffing and demographic summaries, utilization of NIBRS (the National Incident‑Based Reporting System) for crime reporting, search‑and‑rescue and helicopter program statistics (Raven program flight hours) and detention facility metrics (average daily population, length of stay and bookings). The sheriff’s office invited committee members to tour the forensic laboratory and the jail‑based mental‑health unit.
Committee members asked for additional data; Washoe said it would supply year‑end accountability summaries and share program statistics on request.
