Lafayette Times

Robert Goldsmith, Sheriff of the Tippecanoe County Sheriff's Office, said in an interview that inmates with mental health issues often endure long waits for scarce hospital beds, worsening their conditions while in custody.

"Those that are severely mentally ill can become victims inside the jail," said Goldsmith. "People may go after them, bullying and such, and taking their food and trying to take their medication. Some of their jail holds just as many as we hold on one side of our pods. It seems that a lot of those that are incarcerated do suffer from some sort of mental illness."

Goldsmith added there is an urgent need for more state-funded mental health beds. He noted that at any given time, three to five inmates in his jail are waiting for placement in a state hospital due to a lack of available space. He explained this delay leaves mentally ill individuals stuck in jail, an environment ill-equipped for proper treatment, where their conditions often deteriorate while staff struggle to identify prior care providers and appropriate medications.

According to Hoosier State Today, as of 2023, Indiana had only 11.9 psychiatric beds per 100,000 residents, which is significantly below the recommended minimum of 50 beds per 100,000 needed for adequate mental health care. This shortfall has led to overcrowded hospitals and forced many individuals experiencing mental health crises to be held in jails or emergency rooms, exacerbating their conditions. The lack of sufficient psychiatric beds contributes to a cycle where individuals with mental illnesses are more likely to encounter the criminal justice system due to inadequate access to proper treatment facilities.

Approximately 400,000 Hoosiers are living with untreated mental illness, contributing to broader public health and social crises across the state. As per Haven Health Management, 69% of Indiana residents with mild mental illness went without care. In Marion County specifically, nearly two-thirds of serious mental health needs remain unmet. Barriers such as poor transportation, limited tech access, and inadequate insurance coverage continue to widen Indiana’s mental health treatment gap.

Goldsmith is a Lafayette native and a 1991 graduate of Lafayette Jefferson High School. He has been in law enforcement since 1997 and now heads the Tippecanoe County Sheriff’s Office. According to his LinkedIn profile, prior to being elected sheriff in 2018, he served as a detective and lieutenant focusing on criminal investigations and computer forensics.