Governing bodies to discuss mental health crisis response

Mental health crisis response and paperless reports for liquid waste haulers are among topics local governing bodies plan to take up this coming week. Commissioners plan to consider entering into an agreement through which the Shawnee County Department of Corrections, Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office, Topeka Police Department and Valeo Behavioral Health Care would team up to create and finance a job for a full-time employee who would assist sheriff’s and police officers during incidents involving people suffering mental health crises.

The cost to employ that person wouldn’t exceed $60,000 a year, commissioners learned in a recent joint memo from Sheriff Herman Jones and corrections department director Brian Cole. The sheriff’s office and corrections department would each pay $10,000 to help cover those costs, the memo said.