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SB 518 - This act allows the Department of Corrections to establish a three-year pilot program in which judges in participating counties may send a criminal offender, upon a motion by a prosecutor, to the department of corrections for 120 days for mental health assessment and treatment. The victim must be given notice and an opportunity to be heard before the judge rules on the motion. At the end of the 120 days, the department must send an assessment report to the sentencing court, which may release the offender on probation. The state probation and parole officer for the offender must work with the Department of Mental Health to enroll eligible offenders into Community Psychiatric Rehabilitation programs. Offenders are not eligible for the pilot program who have been found guilty of, or plead guilty to, second-degree murder, forcible or first-degree statutory rape, forcible or first-degree statutory sodomy, first degree child molestation that is classified as a class A felony, or any other offense that does not allow probation or parole. Those found to be predatory sexual offenders are also ineligible. The directors of the Departments of Corrections and Mental Health are to report to the Governor and the General Assembly by December 31, 2015 on whether the program should be statewide. This act is substantially similar to SB 352 (2011) and HB 302 (2011). MEGHAN LUECKE
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