Kentucky has only one mental health court,none in Northern Kentucky. But Campbell County District Judge Karen Thomas and others aim to raise that count by at least one.

They say it's far cheaper to treat and create a support system for mentally troubled inmates than to keep locking them up for repeat crimes. The most immediate questions confronting Northern Kentucky should be how fast can they get a mental health court up and running, and should they extend its reach beyond Campbell to more of Northern Kentucky?.

Like drug courts, mental health courts can't take all comers. The most disturbed or violent would not be candidates for court diversion programs. But successful mental health courts such as Hamilton County's 3-year-old program break the cycle of locking troubled inmates up and then releasing them to the same conditions that contribute to repeat crimes. About half of those who completed Hamilton County's year-long program were homeless when arrested. After "graduating," 84 percent found housing.

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