Guest column: Mental health services now available for offenders Your turn For many years, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and our courts have struggled with how to handle individuals charged with non-violent misdemeanors who also suffer from severe and persistent mental illness. These individuals are often arrested for minor “nuisance” offenses such as trespassing, breach of peace, sleeping in public or the open consumption of alcohol. They are booked into the jail as the result of their arrest, but due to a lack of community alternatives their mental illness is never fully addressed...