- Introduced -

SB 530 - This act requires that persons who plead guilty or are acquitted due to mental disease or defect be placed in a Department of Corrections (DOC)facility. Such persons would remain in the custody of the Department of Mental Health (DMH), but would be housed in a segregated Department of Mental Health Corrections facility.

Currently in Section 552.040, when persons are acquitted based on mental disease or defect, the court must order them into the custody of the Director of the Department of Mental Health. The Department of Mental Health will be responsible for their control, care, and treatment, but that all persons committed for this purpose will be kept in a "secure facility". A secure DMH facility located within a Corrections facility. Persons acquitted based on mental disease or defect will be kept segregated from all other mental health patients and from all offenders in the custody of DOC. The Department of Mental Health may enter into an interagency agreement with DOC for the confinement of such persons.

ERIN MOTLEY