Mentally ill offenders represent a substantial proportion of jail and prison inmates. Despite the fact that confining mentally ill offenders can and often will exacerbate their mental illness, the quality of mental health services available to them remains poor and insufficient. Up to date, only a few cities and counties have considered a more humane form of criminal punishment or alternative to incarceration for mentally ill offenders, and those cases have focused only on mentally ill offenders who were sentenced for misdemeanor crimes. This paper outlines various diversion programs and calls for governmental monetary support in order to establish, evaluate, and maintain these programs.