(ABC 6 News) – Sheriffs in Iowa raised the alarm for the number of people with serious mental illnesses caught in the criminal justice system.

Sheriff Joe Kennedy of Dubuque County says issues with mental health in jails creates a growing crisis in the community.

“When you come here on a simple misdemeanor, and you’re being held for four months, your civil rights are basically being violated,” said Kennedy. “You’re being held longer than the law really allows.”

In one case, a man with severe mental illness was forced to spend six months in jail, waiting for a competency hearing.

He was eventually found incompetent, and is now on a waitlist to receive in-patient care, but that waitlist is three months long.

Kennedy says something has to be done to stop this cycle of putting mentally ill people in jail because the current system isn’t cutting it.