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Warden: Franklin County Jail now handles extensive mental-health and medical caseloads; calls for more training and interagency support
Summary
Warden Franzoni told commissioners the modern jail must address high rates of mental illness and complex medical needs — including dialysis and specialty transports — and said the facility provides MAT per ADA requirements but needs more training capacity and stakeholder support.
Warden Franzoni gave a detailed presentation to the Franklin County Board of Commissioners describing how the county jail's role has expanded far beyond security to encompass medical care, mental-health treatment and reentry planning.
"Modern jails really aren't corrections 101 anymore," Franzoni said, explaining that staff now manage substantial medical complexities — dialysis patients, oxygen-dependent inmates, wound care related to intravenous drug use, and specialty transports — and that those cases often demand multiple staff-hours and external appointments. He said a recent data point he reviewed showed "67 to 68 percent of our population currently has some sort of mental health disorder," and that about 63 percent have a substance-use disorder according to information he cited.
Franzoni described operational strains: officers provide one-on-one watches for suicidal individuals, accompany inmates to cardiac procedures and dialysis, and manage medication-assisted treatment (MAT), which he said the jail provides in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. He said PrimeCare is the jail's medical contractor and handles clinical services while the jail coordinates security and reentry planning with social-service partners.
On training, Franzoni said the Department of Corrections requires specific training but the county has added trauma-informed, mental-health and autism training; he urged more in-house mental-health first-aid and a program to "train the trainers," while acknowledging staffing limits slow implementation. He asked commissioners for continued collaboration with county stakeholders and community partners to address system-level gaps rather than relying solely on the jail to resolve them.
Commissioner Flynn acknowledged public skepticism about providing treatment in jail and asked whether the county should rely on other institutions: "Do we lack institutions to take care of these people and that's why they're ending up in jail?" Franzoni and Flynn agreed this is a systemic issue requiring policy-level attention beyond the county jail's remit.
Why it matters: The presentation frames the county jail as a frontline provider for complex health needs, with resource and training implications for county budgets, contractor arrangements and interagency coordination.
Quotes and attribution: "We have individuals coming through our doors... with mental health disorders, chronic medical conditions, substance abuse," Franzoni said. "We're getting individuals from psychiatric units because they assault other patients or they assault staff... jail is not for them, but we have to now manage them." Commissioner Flynn said the issue "needs addressed at a... level a little higher than mine."
Next steps: Franzoni signaled plans to expand training and asked for continued stakeholder support; commissioners did not take formal action during this meeting.
