After being approved for a $22 million dollar bond, Miami officials are paving the way for one of the first jails built for inmates that suffer from mental illness. According to supporters of the project, mentally ill prisoners make up roughly one-fifth of the population in Miami's jails.

In its very early stages, the project may call for a new building or one that can be retrofitted. It's likely the facility will be near the North Broward Detention Center in Pompano Beach. Officials hope to outfit an existing state mental hospital with 50 short-term residential beds and 100 jail beds for inmates with diagnosed mental illnesses.

Nationwide figures show that county jails and state prisons house three times as many people with chronic mental illness, a problem that many officials are quick to point out. Miami-Dade County would be one of the first locations to address this problem, which should eventually cut down the cost to taxpayers.