JACKSON CO., Ala. (WAFF) – A Jackson County woman has been waiting in jail for more than a year for a bed at a state mental health facility after being deemed unfit to stand trial.
Ivey Williams has been in the Jackson County jail since attacking a police officer in February 2025. Her daughter, Amanda Roberts, said Williams has been battling mental health issues for decades.
Those issues reached a breaking point in 2024, Roberts said. Williams was released from inpatient care that year, which Roberts said was against her wishes as her mother’s power of attorney.
“I asked them to keep her there because she was a danger to herself and others,” Roberts said. “The last time was in September. In October, on the 26th, she called the police on herself.”
Roberts said the officer told Williams he was taking her in for a mental health evaluation. Williams panicked and fought back.
Court documents say Williams attacked the officer with a broomstick, then turned an aerosol can and lighter on him.
Within months, Williams was deemed unfit to stand trial. She was placed on a waiting list for a state mental health facility in February 2025.
Williams is still sitting in the Jackson County jail, waiting.
“Right now, is in a state of delusion and everything in her brain, the thoughts that she has, those are real,” Roberts said. “And it has to be terrifying.”
Jackson County Sheriff Rocky Harnen said there are many inmates waiting.
“Without mentioning names, I have one that’s in there for murder, but he’s waiting on a bed,” Harnen said. “And he’s been waiting for almost three years in jail.”
Harnen said the long waits are common.
Roberts said she is not asking for her mother’s crimes to be forgiven but for her mother’s mental health to be treated.
“The longer a person in psychosis goes untreated, it can cause brain damage, making it harder to get them back once they are receiving the treatment that they need,” Roberts said.
Harnen said the only solution is more funding.
“I think if the state had money to build more mental health facilities, then we could certainly fill them up quickly,” Harnen said. “I don’t know if they have the money to do that.”
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