CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- To deal with the overcrowding problem in Mecklenburg County jails, the county commission plans to spend $220 million on a jail expansion.

The addition would be built at Jail-North on Spector Drive. But one group of concerned citizens hopes to encourage the government to put the money towards mental illness programs for inmates instead.

Quinetta Williams said she spent two years behind bars for attempted murder before entering a court-ordered program, which included mental health treatment in 2006. Williams has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

"Mental health court gave me the opportunity to show that I was not a criminal, that I did not have all bad attributes about myself," she said.

Now, Williams, an artist and new business owner, is a free woman. She said the mental health treatment she received while transitioning out of jail is what helped turn her life around.

That’s the main reason why Williams and Liz Clasen-Kelly, associate director of Urban Ministries, want the Mecklenburg County government to put money into expanding the current jail diversion programs instead of putting hundreds of millions of dollars into expanding the jail as planned.

"We think jails are an important part of the public safety system, but we think it's vital for county commissioners to address the underlying concerns of why folks are in jail, which has to do a lot with our mental health systems," Clasen-Kelly said.

County Commission Chair Jennifer Roberts said that is something the county is taking into consideration, but it boils down to dollars and cents.

“Part of what we are going to be looking at in the county manager's evaluation in the coming year is how creative he can be in leveraging more dollars to get treatment to some of these folks," she said.

Clasen-Kelly and other mental health advocates plan to voice their concerns during Tuesday night's county commission meeting. Roberts said the capital budget, which includes the jail expansion, will be voted on in late October or early November, while the operating budget that includes mental health programs will be voted on next June.