DeKalb officials outline diversion center plan to reduce jail stays, cut costs

DeKalb County commissioners and court and jail officials on Thursday discussed plans for a diversion center combined with an emergency receiving facility aimed at diverting adults with nonviolent misdemeanor charges stemming from mental-health or substance-use crises away from the county jail and into treatment.

Kareem Martin, administrative division director of health services and medical liaison at the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, told the Finance, Audit and Budget Committee the county’s jail population has a high concentration of people with behavioral-health diagnoses and that many misdemeanor arrestees might be better served in a treatment setting. "Seventy-one percent of our average daily population has a mental-health diagnosis," Martin said, describing intake screening, ongoing diagnosis in custody and frequent use of psychotropic medications.

Martin and other officials laid out the operational model the county is considering: a voluntary diversion unit that provides basic needs, short-term treatment and connections to housing and community providers, and an emergency receiving facility (ERF) certified to perform involuntary evaluations and stabilization under DBHDD rules. Martin said the diversion center would be staffed by clinicians—psychiatrists, psychologists and licensed clinical social workers—and operate 24/7 to accept and triage appropriate cases. "This would be a 24/7, 365 facility," Martin said, noting arresting agencies across the county would be able to consult and, when appropriate, transport people there rather than to jail.

Officials argued the diversion model would be substantially cheaper than housing the same population in jail. Martin presented county estimates that diverting the maximum cohort of 738 misdemeanor arrestees with mental-health diagnoses could reduce jail-related housing costs by roughly $29 million annually. He estimated diversion treatment costs at about $350 per visit and an annual operating cost near $2.5 million for the diversion unit, plus about $4.9 million annually for an ERF treating roughly 936 people a year.

Judicial stakeholders urged realistic planning on how diversion would intersect with bond and court requirements. State Court Judge Jacobs explained a legal constraint: recent legislative changes expanded the list of bail-restricted offenses, in many cases requiring a monetary bond even where a judge would previously have released a defendant on their own recognizance. "Because of the list of bail-restricted offenses, we are not legally able to issue a UJR in every case," Jacobs said, while adding that courts can still impose treatment as a special condition of bond and that judicial supervision (pretrial services) can monitor compliance if resources are provided.

Commissioners and staff emphasized that a successful diversion program depends on creating a housing pipeline so clients discharged from the diversion center do not bottleneck the system. Commissioner Terry noted models the delegation saw in Houston and San Antonio and proposed exploring the Peace Baptist Church site as a possible campus that could co-locate housing and services. "If there's not enough units available, then it sort of jams it up," Terry said.

Committee members requested further planning on capacity, referral pathways (pre-arrest and post-arrest), financing and how diversion fits into existing criminal-justice lanes. They asked staff to return with more detailed cost comparisons, housing referral costs and a timeline for implementation. The committee agreed to periodic check-ins as planning continues; no formal action was taken to create the facility at this meeting.