Inmates With Mental Illness Lack Treatment In Minnesota

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A lack of beds in Minnesota's psychiatric facilities is keeping inmates with mental illnesses in jail without access to proper medical treatment.

The Star Tribune reports that 28-year-old Raymond Traylor Jr.'s prolonged detention at Hennepin County jail has become the latest boiling point in a long-running struggle between county and state officials over accommodating mentally ill inmates.

Taylor is diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. He was held at the jail for 92 days without treatment before being transferred to Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment Center on Thursday.

A 2013 law requires the state to find a psychiatric bed within 48 hours for inmates who a judge finds mentally ill. But state officials say Minnesota psychiatric hospitals weren't prepared for the influx of court-ordered admissions from jails, and the wait to get into state facilities has increased since the law's inception.