It’s curious that both prosecutors and defense attorneys see a need for more mental health treatment for inmates in Warren County.

A woman was sentenced to four years in state prison last week after she repeatedly assaulted staff members at the Warren State Hospital. It’s not strange to hear a defense attorney argue that a person’s sentence should be mitigated by mental health issues. But to hear the district attorney in the case basically agree with the defense attorney is something that should be taken into consideration by state lawmakers when considering future funding decisions.

Kord Kinney, chief public defender, told Judge Maureen Skerda that the state had failed his client by not providing appropriate treatment despite a long list of commitments to psychiatric institutions, state prison and state hospitals. District Attorney Rob Greene said the situation is the result of the state Legislature closing forensic units, including one at the Warren State Hospital in 2010. The site had 25 patients at the time, and sending patients from Warren to another state hospital near Pittsburgh saved about $2.3 million a year.

“We deal with it on a daily basis,” Greene said, citing an eight-month waiting list to get into the remaining units. “In the meantime,” he explained, “people are getting hurt. Everyone is caught between a rock and a hard place.”

Skerda may be right when she said it’s likely no one system would work for this particular defendant, but in our opinion the state can and should do better for those with serious mental illness.