NATCHEZ — Adams County leaders are traveling to Jefferson County today to discuss a possible solution for housing the high number of area mental health cases.

Representatives from the sheriff’s office, chancery court and board of supervisors will tour the Jefferson County Hospital Behavioral Unit.

The Adams County officials hope the facility might be able to house some of the county’s mentally ill residents in the near future.

When a person with a mental health problem becomes a danger to himself or those around them, family members often call law enforcement to detain the individual until professional help becomes available.

Adams County Sheriff Travis Patten said in the Jan. 3 board of supervisors meeting that the sheriff’s office receives between 10 and 15 such calls per month on average.

After the consolidation of the city and county jails, Patten said the sheriff’s office has handled more mental health cases than ever.

With only two padded isolation cells, Patten said he simply does not have the room to properly accommodate for persons with mental illness.

The two cells that are currently used to house patients with mental illnesses, Patten said, are meant for violent or suicidal criminals, not with persons with a mental health condition.

Sara Delaney, a clerk in the Adams County Chancery Court, said a representative of the county-operated Jefferson County Hospital Behavioral Unit reached out to her with an offer to take on Adams County residents with mental illnesses.

Patten, Delaney, Adams County Board of Supervisors President Calvin Butler and Adams County Jail Administrator Capt. Tony Nichols plan to tour the facility in Fayette today, ensuring that the services will meet the needs of the county.

The behavioral unit is fully staffed with a psychologist and several programs designed specifically to meet the needs of patients with mental conditions.

The only condition, Delaney said, is that the patient must have Medicare or another form of insurance.

“Instead of them being held in the jail until they can get treatment, they could be held there,” Delaney said. “It’s a huge relief.”

Once admitted, patients can receive treatment in the Fayette facility, and when entering the recovery stage, the behavioral center provides step-down programs and outpatient therapy.

“They will actually transport the patient to Fayette and back home for the outpatient program,” Delaney said. “Which is a huge plus for us.”

Butler said the group will learn both the operational and financial fit of the Fayette facility.

“If we don’t have to spend too much, it could be a regional facility,” Butler said.

The exact cost of housing patients there, Butler said, is not yet known.

Butler said if the partnership goes well, the facility could possibly be used as a regional mental health facility.

“We are going to see if it can be a possible solution, but I think it could be exactly what we need,” Butler said. “We really need something for our area, and this has potential.”

Patten, too, said he did not see the facility as a panacea for the mental health problem in Adams County, but he is excited to have a suitable facility for individuals with mental illnesses.

“I am actually really excited if we can find something for them,” Patten said. “At the least, this will be a good fix until we can find a permanent solution.”