Sheriff urges priority for jail mental‑health pod; proposes three‑district patrol model to improve supervision

Sheriff Eric DeBoer briefed the Board of Commissioners on two related public‑safety items: the long‑standing proposal for a dedicated mental‑health pod inside the county correctional facility, and a reorganization that would move the sheriff's office to a three‑district patrol model to improve supervision and service.

On the mental‑health pod, DeBoer described the continuing and growing volume of detainees with mental‑health needs and the security and care challenges posed when those individuals are housed in general population or must be moved across the facility. "A majority of people that we house in our correctional facility suffer from some sort of mental or mental health or medical issues," DeBoer said. He said prior planning work (engineering studies) was done under previous administrations and that earlier estimates were larger than the original request, which stalled…