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Commissioners approve amendment moving jail mental-health hours into cost pool
Summary
County sheriff asked the board to amend the jail health services contract, removing a dedicated four hours per week of contractor mental-health counseling and reallocating about $9,464 annually into the county's cost-pool for off-contract mental-health transports and overruns. The board approved the amendment.
Sheriff Myra told commissioners the county—s contract with its jail health services provider should be amended to remove a line item for four hours per week of on-site mental-health counseling and instead reserve the associated money in a county cost pool for occasional transport or overrun expenses.
Sheriff Myra said the county—s new CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) hires and an in-house CSW position were coming online and the four weekly counseling hours were therefore redundant. She told the board the contract item cost roughly $9,464 per year; moving that amount into a cost pool would allow the county to cover transports and out-of-contract care when needed.
Why it matters: The change shifts how mental-health resources for detained people are funded — from a guaranteed four hours a week within the contractor—s scope to a flexible county-managed pool that can be used for higher-cost events such as hospital transfers.
Board action: A commissioner moved to approve the contract amendment; the motion carried by voice vote.
Ending: The sheriff and staff will proceed with the contract amendment and report back on implementation timelines and how the cost pool will be managed.
