Searcy Hospital was a state-run mental facility near Mount Vernon, Alabama. It was built on the grounds of the historic Mount Vernon Arsenal, an 1828 United States Army munitions factory. It was permanently shuttered on October 31, 2012. The hospital was one of eight state hospitals for the mentally ill in Alabama. It is now used as a treatment center for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Searcy Hospital was founded in 1908 by the Alabama State Board of Mental Deficiency. The first building on the present-day site of the hospital was erected the same year. Over the next few decades, additional buildings were constructed to house patients. In 1958, the hospital began admitting psychiatric inpatients who did not require acute care services. By 1995, the population of Alabama state hospitals had more than doubled since 1950, due to increasing numbers of elderly people with mental illness. This trend resulted in many state hospitals being remodeled or rebuilt to provide apartment-style living facilities. In addition, some state hospitals closed their acute care units because they could no longer afford to keep these beds available all day every day. By 2001, there were 8 state hospitals with a total capacity of over 1,000 beds. In 2004, the Alabama Legislature passed a law requiring states hospitals to reduce the number of beds they provide.