MidHudsonNews [dot] com is reporting a newly released report from the Center for Community Alternatives found that in 2019, the 57 New York counties located outside of New York City spent just under $1.2 billion on local jails, compared with $107 million on community-based mental health services. Organization Director of Advocacy and Organizing Katie Schaffer said 60 percent of those locked up in county jails were pretrial detainees before bail reform, with counties spending more than $706 million jailing legally innocent people in 2019 at an annual cost of $87,241 per person. “This money that would be far better mental health services, on healthcare, on education, on supportive housing, on affordable housing, on all of the community-based resources and services that keep communities, not only safe, but thriving,” she said. According to the report, Columbia County spent $4.9 million on jail and less than $1.4 million on mental health services; Greene County spent $4.7 million on jail and $709,500 on mental health. Read the full story at MidHudsonNews [dot] com.