LA CROSSE, WI (WTAQ) - La Crosse County officials report the county jail is operating over its capacity.

As many as 17 inmates have had to sleep on mattresses on the floor. The situation has come up just two years after a $30 million expansion.

The possible reasons are varied. Officials say it could be the county’s growing heroin problem and the crimes associated with them.

The La Crosse jail also is holding a record number of mentally ill inmates due to reductions in community resources.

The county faces a possible need to spend $400,000 to open a second pod at the facility to handle the inmate numbers.