Mental health issues facing counties will be a key topic for Geary County Commissioner Florence Whitebread when the members of the governing body meet Monday with the area legislative delegation.

Whitebread said the County is being forced to keep more people in jail because “they’re either a threat to society or a threat to themselves.”

The commissioner also noted, “And this is not the place to keep people with mental issues, and we’re being forced all the time to keep more and more of these, because the facilities of the state have been closed, or they’re very minimal the amount of people they can take in.”

Whitebread said said this issue has existed for several years, and has been building up more and more for several years.