DECATUR COUNTY, GA (WTXL) — A statewide shortage of psychiatric treatment beds is forcing Decatur County's jail to serve as a mental health facility, with some inmates waiting years for evaluations and treatment. Chief Deputy Wendell Cofer of the Decatur County Jail and Sheriff's Department said 14 inmates are currently waiting through different stages of the mental health evaluation and court process, with some cases taking years to move forward. "Those timelines are running two to four years, where they just sit here waiting on the mental health system to decide what's best and what's next before the criminal system can proceed," Cofer said. The physical toll on the jail is significant. Cofer said the facility has lost all of its temporary and holding cells to accommodate those with mental health needs. "A lot of them are in general population. We've lost all of our temporary cells, all our holding cells, all of those have now become mental health cells. In large parts, we've turned the jails into mental health hospitals," Cofer said. Cofer described how the cycle typically begins, with people not receiving treatment going on to commit minor crimes. "The mental health endemic of people not receiving treatment, committing minor crimes generally, not always, some of them are very violent, but often minor crimes like panhandling and theft, retail theft, that sort of thing, that then lands them in jail on relatively minor charges. But then they get stuck in the system because…
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