Logan McDougall:  It’s no secret that Idaho has cut state funding for those that need help with mental health services. And for Bannock County Sheriff Lorin Nielsen and other sheriffs, they say there’s a link between access to adequate mental health care and what they see on the streets.

“I am extremely frustrated that in every one of these cases, including this one, there’s mental health issues here and people off their medication or people self-medicating and it’s a sad thing that law enforcement is the catch net when society cannot take care of their mentally ill,” said Sheriff Nielsen

According to a report from the National Alliance on Mental Illness from fiscal year 2009 to 2012 the State of Idaho has cut $10.2 million the mental health care budget. The national per capita average is $122 a person, while Idaho spends only $44 per resident. Representative Janice McGeachin, Chair of the House Health and Welfare Committee, says that money was cut in a time when all budgets were being slashed.

“During that same time frame our tax revenues statewide were down 25 percent,” McGeachin said. “That’s a pretty significant reduction in tax revenues, so we did make cuts to mental health services and every other government program and agency saw cuts.”

Last month a McCammon man was shot after a standoff with the Bannock County Sheriff’s Office. Dennis Buzzell has a history of arrests related to alcohol. Later in the month, Kevin Benglan jumped through a basement window of a residence in Pocatello. Benglan was described as combative and erratic and was eventually tased. He later died at Portneuf Medical Center. Wednesday, a Utah man was involved in a stand-off in Lava Hot Springs. Jason Wiberg was eventually talked out of the home and he demanded to be shot because he did not want to go back to prison. Wiberg was tased and taken into custody.

It could be impossible to draw a direct line from budget cuts to the three recent cases because each case is individual in nature. But, McGeachin says she has heard comments like the one Sheriff Nielsen made from more than one sheriff.

“(They are) seeing more of these people showing up in our emergency rooms, in hospitals and in our county jails and we had a lot of sheriff’s come and talk to us last session to ask us for some assistance in helping them deal with that,” McGeachin said.

McGeachin says they did restore some funding in the past legislative session, $1.5 million for mental health and preventative dental services.