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Sheriff Hernandez urges completion of Travis County diversion center, cites high jail mental‑health needs
Summary
Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez described the frequency of mental‑health crises among people in the county jail, recounted family cases of repeated custody cycles, and urged completion of a diversion center and more alternatives to incarceration.
Sheriff Sally Hernandez urged Travis County to complete a planned diversion center and expand noncarceral options for people in mental‑health crises, saying the jail is not an appropriate place for people who need treatment.
"A jail and a prison is not the place for someone in a mental health crisis," Sheriff Hernandez said, recounting a case involving a corrections employee whose adult son cycled through custody 91 times and often only received medication while incarcerated. The sheriff described repeated 911 calls from exhausted neighbors and said deputies and crisis intervention teams lack sufficient alternatives.
Speakers at the event also provided county figures intended to illustrate the scope of the issue: the sheriff said about 40% of people in the Travis County jail are living with a serious mental illness, and that nearly 5,000 criminal cases in the county required attorneys trained to work with people facing mental‑health challenges.
Organizers noted existing efforts intended to reduce arrests and connect people to care, including a 24/7 psychiatric emergency service center and a therapeutic diversion pilot that has allowed 219 people to stay for stabilization and transition to housing; however the pilot currently has only 25 beds and more than 600 referrals, officials said.
Sheriff Hernandez called on county leaders and community partners to keep pushing to complete the diversion center that is in planning and design. She framed the push as part of ‘‘doing better’’ for people who are impacted by mental illness and said the law often constrains what deputies can do despite crisis‑intervention efforts.
The event closed with panelists answering audience questions about sustaining the work beyond Mental Health Month and emphasizing continued advocacy, resource awareness and community support for expanding access to services.
