Missouri does not have enough hospital beds for mental health patients, and hundreds of them across the state are being housed in county jails. That includes northwest Missouri’s Buchanan County.

Sheriff Bill Puett described a dire situation this week to the Missouri House Committee on Corrections.

“Some of these individuals are extremely violent,” Puett told the committee. “I have staff that are assaulted on a regular basis by individuals who are deemed mentally incompetent. We’ve had two violent bitings as well as multiple beatings and attempts at grabbing and pulling.”

Meanwhile, 497 jail inmates across Missouri are waiting to be transferred to psychiatric hospitals. Valerie Huhn, Director of the Missouri Department of Mental Health, told a State House committee on Monday that all of

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