GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) - So far this year, Campbell County has seen almost a 30 percent rise in the number of involuntary psychiatric commitment hearings, an increase officials were at a loss to explain.

Through Wednesday, county courts had conducted 53 involuntary commitment hearings, up from 41 at the same time last year and almost as many as last year's total of 57.

Campbell County Attorney Jeani Stone said her office had not pursued cases any differently than in previous years; law enforcement agencies said they, too, had done nothing different this year.

"It's simply that the need is much more than we've had," Stone said.

Wojceiech Zolcik, the only psychiatrist on staff at Campbell County Memorial Hospital, said population growth in the area might be a factor, and that more people were seeking psychiatric care in Campbell County who might previously have gone elsewhere for care.

But Carol Seeger, the county's deputy attorney, said she wasn't convinced the increase was significant. She said there were 68 commitment hearings in 2003; this year, the county is on track for about 70 hearings.

Information from: News-Record, http://www.gillettenewsrecord.com