Commissioners Proclaim September as Suicide Prevention Month

The Sequoyah County Board of Commissioners approved a proclamation declaring September as Suicide Prevention Month at their weekly meeting Monday.

Cindy Smith, an investigator with the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office, told the commissioners that Oklahoma has one of the highest suicide rates in the United States, with nearly 20 people out of 100,000 attempting to kill themselves, a statistic the sheriff’s office and the Sequoyah County Mental Health Court want to change.

“This is not something to ignore. This is not a happy time in America,” said Judge Kyle Waters, who oversees the Mental Health Court. “There are tools out there to help those individuals,” he added.

For more information on the Mental Health Court, contact Chrystal Schulz, the court’s coordinator, at (979) 200-8016.

In other business, the commissioners:

*Approved a claim form that will assign payment from the Dwight Mission Road Resurfacing Project to Union Pacific Railroad Co. in Sequoyah County’s District 2.

*Approved a change to the Courthouse Hallway Project that will allow for the installation of wood to match existing walls at the Sequoyah County Courthouse in the amount of $9,200.

*Opened bids for a truck purchase for the county assessor’s office.

*Approved the Sheriff’s Office’s request to hire part-time deputy Herbert Hutchinson.

Laura Brown, KXMX Staff Writer

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