BENTONVILLE — The Judicial Equality for Mental Illness Task Force of Northwest Arkansas met Wednesday to discuss alternatives to holding mentally ill inmates in the county jail.

“The goal is to help increase public awareness and public involvement, said Don Wleklinski, an instructor at the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing at the University of Arkansas. “The goals are to implement services that will aid the mentally ill prior to and after the justice system.”

The group brainstormed ideas at the meeting held at the Benton County Sheriff’s Office. One idea is a mental health court already is in the early planning stages for Benton County.

Retha Woods Gregory, a therapist in adult services for Ozark Guidance, said a mental health court is a priority. Gregory said she had one client with mental health issues who stayed in jail for more than a year and saw his attorney only one time.

“There needs to be an advocate for these people,” Woods said.

The task force wants to use education and other programs to raise awareness to the issue. Other issues discussed included alternatives to incarceration, post-release services, court ordered followup and more training for area law enforcement.

Sgt. Matt West, training coordinator for the Benton County Jail, said the Sheriff’s Office recently sent eight deputies to a weeklong training that dealt with issues involving the mentally ill.

West said a few deputies may have been reluctant about the training, but all of them returned and reported the training should be required for all deputies.

Nancy Kahanak, who is retired from Ozark Guidance, said it is important more attention be paid to the mentally ill, especially when it comes to them being held in county jails.

“We have always known about these problems, and we need to deal with it now,” Kahanak said.