SCS/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 or the offender's attorney, 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.
Only certain offenders of Class C and D felonies or drug crimes may participate in the program. 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.
A similar provision was truly agreed to and finally passed in SS/HB 1318 (2012) and was also contained in HB 1322 (2012), HB 1456 (2012), and HCS/HB 1826 (2012).
MEGHAN LUECKE