The shooting deaths of two journalists in Virginia last week has reignited a conversation on how we deal with mentally ill people in our society.

Healthcare professionals encourage people to get a mental health evaluation or at least talk about their feelings and reach out for help.

But for many people struggling with mental illness, they may not get help until they are involved with the criminal justice system.

In the past the mentally ill were treated the same as other offenders: They were tried in regular court and generally sentenced to jail. They would serve their time and then return back to their communities with the same untreated illness.

But in a growing number of Georgia counties, like Macon-Bibb, mentally ill offenders who commit non-violent crimes are given a choice between the traditional court system and mental health court.

GPB’s Leah Fleming spoke with Superior Court Judge Verda Colvin who oversees the court in Macon.

Tags: Leah Fleming, accountability courts, Judge Verda Colvin, mental health care