Amended in Assembly March 28, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 2262


Introduced by Assembly Members Levine, Thurmond, and Low

February 18, 2016


An act to add Chapter 16 (commencing with Section 1425) to Title 10 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, relating to prisoners.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2262, as amended, Levine. Prisoners: mental health treatment.

Existing law prohibits a person from being tried, adjudged to punishment, or having his or her probation, mandatory supervision, postrelease community supervision, or parole revoked while that person is mentally incompetent. Existing law establishes a process by which a defendant’s mental competency is evaluated and by which the defendant receives treatment, including, if applicable, antipsychotic medication, with the goal of returning the defendant to competency. Existing law credits time spent by a defendant in a state hospital or other facility as a result of commitment during the process toward the term of any imprisonment for which the defendant is sentenced.begin delete Existing law, as added by Proposition 184, adopted November 8, 1994, and amended by Proposition 36, adopted November 6, 2012, commonly known as the Three Strikes Law, prohibits certain recidivist offenders from being committed to any facility other than a state prison.end delete

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This bill would authorize, if a defendant has pled guilty or nolo contendere to, or been convicted of, an offense that will result in a sentence to state prison or county jail, the defendant or the prosecutor submit evidence that the defendant suffers from a diagnosable mental condition that was a substantial factor that contributed to the defendant’s criminal conduct. The bill would require that the evidence be submitted after the defendant’s conviction, but before his or her sentencing. The bill would require the court to consider any evidence submitted as described above in conjunction with the defendant’s sentencing, and would authorize the court to order the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or county jail authority, as applicable, to place the defendant in a residential mental health treatment facility. This placement would not be available to a defendant who is subject to the Three Strikes Law. The bill would also authorize the court to order the department or jail authority to place the defendant in a mental health program within the state prison or county jail, respectively. The bill would provide that the defendant has the right to counsel for these proceedings.

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This bill would authorize a defendant who is or has been eligible for public mental health services due to a serious mental illness or who is eligible for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits due to a diagnosed mental illness to petition the court, after the defendant’s plea or conviction but prior to sentencing, for a sentence that includes mental health treatment. The bill would authorize a court, if it finds that the defendant has shown that he or she meets the criteria by a preponderance of the evidence, to order the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or the county authority to provide specified mental health service, including placement in a residential mental health treatment facility instead of state prison or county jail, placement in a mental health program within the state prison or county jail, or preparation of a postrelease mental health treatment plan. The bill would authorize the court, upon petition of the defendant or the prosecution, to recall a sentence that includes a mental health order and resentence the defendant to other mental health treatment or resentence the defendant without mental health treatment. The bill would provide that the defendant has the right to counsel for these proceedings.

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By imposing additional duties upon county jail authorities, this bill would create a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P3    1

SECTION 1.  

This act shall be known and may be cited as the
2Mental Health Justice Act.

3begin insert

begin insertSEC. 2.end insert  

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The Legislature finds and declares the following:

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4
(a) Exposure to violence increases the risk of developing a
5mental health condition such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
6Children in underserved communities are more likely to be exposed
7to violence than other children.

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8
(b) Ten times as many people with mental illness are in prisons
9and jails today than are in mental health treatment facilities.

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10
(c) Correctional facilities spend two to three times more money
11on adults with mental illnesses than they do on people who do not
12live with a mental illness.

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13
(d) Despite overall decreasing prison populations, California’s
14prisons are experiencing increasing demand for mental health
15treatment services as prison inmates require mental health
16treatment at higher rates. This number is anticipated to continue
17to increase in the next five years and beyond.

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18
(e) In California, the annual prison cost for an inmate in the
19general population is $51,000, while the annual community housing
20and outpatient treatment costs for a person with mental illness are
2160 percent less at $20,412.

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22
(f) Nearly half of all prisoners in California are mentally ill and
23 have received psychiatric treatment within the past year. This
24number has almost doubled in the last 15 years, making jails and
25prisons the de facto mental health system.

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26
(g) Individuals with mental illnesses tend to stay longer in prison
27or jail and, when released, are at a higher risk of returning to
28prison or jail than those without these illnesses.

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29
(h) Mental health court participants have a significantly lower
30(47 percent) recidivism rate compared to similar defendants in
31traditional court.

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(i) Mental health courts allow for the consideration of a
2defendant’s mental health status during court proceedings and
3have shown to save $7 in costs for every $1 spent.

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4
(j) According to the United States Supreme Court, conditions
5in California prisons exacerbate mental health issues significantly.
6Offenders with mental illness are often subjected to higher rates
7of physical and sexual trauma, forced restraints, solitary
8confinement, and overmedication while incarcerated. Those who
9are kept in isolation are at higher risk for psychiatric injury,
10self-harm, and suicide.

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11
(k) A defendant’s mental illness should inform case processing
12and the nature of any criminal charges, in alignment with public
13safety and a defendant’s constitutional rights.

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14
(l) California must increase diversion programs to redirect
15defendants with mental illness away from prisons and jails, which
16exacerbate mental illnesses, impede treatment, and increase costs,
17and toward proven mental health treatment services.

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18

begin deleteSEC. 2.end delete
19
begin insertSEC. 3.end insert  

Chapter 16 (commencing with Section 1425) is added
20to Title 10 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, to read:

21 

22Chapter  16. Mental Health Treatment
23

 

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24

1425.  

(a) If a defendant has pled guilty or nolo contendere to,
25or been convicted of, an offense that will result in a sentence to
26state prison or county jail, the defendant or the prosecutor may
27submit evidence that the defendant suffers from a diagnosable
28mental illness that was a substantial factor that contributed to the
29defendant’s criminal conduct. The evidence shall be filed after the
30defendant’s plea or conviction, but before his or her sentencing.

31(b) If evidence is submitted pursuant to subdivision (a), the
32court shall consider that evidence in conjunction with the
33defendant’s sentencing.

34(c) Upon consideration of the evidence submitted pursuant to
35subdivision (a), notwithstanding any other law, if the court
36determines that it is in the best interests of public safety, the court
37may order one or more of the following:

38(1) (A) That the defendant serve, if the defendant agrees, all or
39a part of his or her sentence in a residential mental health treatment
40facility instead of in the state prison or county jail, unless that
P5    1placement would pose an unreasonable risk of danger to public
2safety.

3(B) This paragraph does not apply to a defendant subject to
4Section 1170.12.

5(2) The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or county
6jail authority, as applicable, to place the defendant in a mental
7health program within the state prison or county jail system,
8respectively, at a level of care determined to be appropriate by the
9department’s mental health staff or county mental health staff,
10within 30 days, of the defendant’s placement in the state prison or
11county jail.

12(3) The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or the
13county jail authority, as applicable, regardless of the type of crime
14committed to prepare a postrelease mental health treatment plan
15six months prior to the defendant’s release to parole or postrelease
16community supervision. The treatment plan shall specify the
17manner in which the defendant will receive mental health treatment
18services following that release, and shall address, if applicable and
19in the discretion of the court, medication management, housing,
20and substance abuse treatment.

21(d) (1) The defendant or prosecutor may, at any time, petition
22the court for approval to transfer the defendant from a residential
23mental health treatment facility to a mental health program within
24the state prison or county jail for the remainder of the defendant’s
25sentence.

26(2) The defendant, prosecutor, Department of Corrections and
27Rehabilitation, or county jail authority, as applicable, may, at any
28time, petition the court for permission to remove the defendant
29from a mental health program within the state prison or county jail
30system, respectively.

31(3) The defendant, prosecutor, Department of Corrections and
32Rehabilitation, or county jail authority, as applicable, may, at any
33time, petition the court for dismissal of the requirement that the
34Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or county jail
35authority, respectively, prepare a postrelease mental health
36treatment plan.

37(e) The defendant shall have the right to counsel for all
38proceedings under this section.

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39

begin insert1425.end insert  

(a) A defendant who has pleaded guilty or nolo
40contendere to, or was convicted of, a felony or misdemeanor and
P6    1who currently is, or at any prior time was, eligible for public
2mental health services due to serious mental illness or who
3currently is, or at any prior time was, eligible for Social Security
4Disability Insurance benefits due to a diagnosed mental illness
5may petition the court for a sentence that includes mental health
6treatment. The petition shall be filed after the defendant’s plea or
7conviction, but before his or her sentencing.

8
(b) The defendant shall bear the burden of establishing by a
9preponderance of the evidence that he or she meets the criteria in
10subdivision (a).

11
(c) If the court determines that the defendant has met his or her
12burden, as described in subdivision (b), and that it is in the public
13interest, the court may order that the defendant’s sentence include
14one or more of the following:

15
(1) (A) A requirement that the defendant serve, if the defendant
16agrees, all or a part of his or her sentence in a residential mental
17health treatment facility instead of in the state prison or a county
18jail, if that placement would not pose an unreasonable risk of
19danger to public safety and is in the interest of justice pursuant to
20Section 1385.

21
(B) A defendant is not eligible for subparagraph (A) if his or
22her current plea or conviction is for a violent felony, as defined
23in subdivision (c) of Section 667.5, or if the defendant is required
24by statute to serve his or her entire sentence only in state prison.

25
(2) Regardless of the offense to which the defendant pleaded
26guilty or nolo contendere or for which the defendant was convicted,
27a requirement that the Department of Corrections and
28Rehabilitation or county jail authority, as applicable, place the
29defendant in a mental health program within the state prison or
30county jail system at a level of care determined to be appropriate
31by the department’s mental health staff or county mental health
32staff, within 30 days of the defendant’s sentencing.

33
(3) Regardless of the offense to which the defendant pleaded
34guilty or nolo contendere or for which the defendant was convicted,
35a requirement that the Department of Corrections and
36Rehabilitation or the county jail authority, as applicable, prepare
37a postrelease mental health treatment plan six months prior to the
38defendant’s release from custody. The treatment plan shall specify
39the manner in which the defendant will receive mental health
40treatment services following release from custody and shall
P7    1address, if applicable and at the discretion of the court, medication
2management, housing, and substance abuse treatment.

3
(d) At any time, upon a petition from the defendant or
4prosecutor, if it is in the public interest, the court may recall a
5sentence that includes a mental health treatment order issued
6under this section and either resentence the defendant to other
7mental health treatment authorized under subdivision (c) or
8resentence the defendant in the same manner as if he or she had
9not previously been sentenced with application of this section. The
10defendant shall receive credit for the time he or she served on the
11prior sentence.

12
(e) The defendant shall have the right to counsel for all
13proceedings under this section.

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14

begin deleteSEC. 3.end delete
15
begin insertSEC. 4.end insert  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
16this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
17local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
18pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
194 of Title 2 of the Government Code.


CORRECTIONS:

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Corrected 4-27-16—See last page.     98