Nearly one-fourth of the people currently in the Bexar County jail are believed to be suffering from some type of mental illness.
Tuesday, county commissioners took action to help those with mental illness get out of the jail system and get help. Bexar County commissioners passed the last leg of the "Stepping Up" initiative that works to keep those suffering from mental illness out of the county jail.
“People need the proper mental care, but they don’t need to get it at a jail," Bexar County Sheriff's Office Chief Communications Officer James Keith said.
The Bexar County Sheriff's Office is also on board to get people the care they need.
“We support anything that is going to move inmates with mental illness into appropriate mental care facilities," Keith said. "It’s the right thing to do."
Officials with the Bexar County Mental Health Department say about 15 percent of men and 30 percent of women in jail have some sort of mental illness.
[For more of this story, written by Audrey Castoreno, go to http://www.kens5.com/story/new...ail-system/75957588/]
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