This law lets Missouri set up a three-year test program where a judge, if the prosecutor asks, can send someone convicted of a crime to a corrections facility for up to 120 days to get checked for mental illness and treated. After that, the judge can decide to let the person out on probation with mental health support instead of prison. People convicted of serious crimes like murder, rape, or child molestation cannot get this deal. After three years, the heads of two state departments report back to the governor and lawmakers on whether the program should be used across the whole state.
Classifications stated in the statute. Actual outcomes vary.
559.117. Mental health — s eligible — report to — no , when — report to governor and . — 1. The of the is to establish, as a three-year pilot program, a mental health assessment .
2. Only upon a filed by the in a criminal case, the judge who is the criminal case in a participating county may request that an offender be placed in the department of corrections for one hundred twenty days for a mental health assessment and for treatment if it appears that the offender has a or mental illness such that the offender may for probation including and such probation is and not inconsistent with public safety. Before the judge rules upon the motion, the victim shall be given notice of such motion and the opportunity to be heard. Upon recommendation of the court, the shall determine the offender's eligibility for the mental health assessment process.
3. Following this assessment and treatment period, an assessment report shall be sent to the sentencing court and the sentencing court may, if appropriate, the offender on probation. The offender shall be on probation by a state probation and , who shall work cooperatively with the to enroll eligible offenders in community psychiatric rehabilitation (CPR) programs.
4. , probation shall not be granted under this section to offenders who:
(1) Have been of, or guilty to, under section 565.021;
(2) Have been found guilty of, or plead guilty to, rape in the first degree under section 566.030 or under section 566.030 as it existed prior to August 28, 2013;
(3) Have been found guilty of, or plead guilty to, under section 566.032;
(4) Have been found guilty of, or plead guilty to, in the first degree under section 566.060 or under section 566.060 as it existed prior to August 28, 2013;
(5) Have been found guilty of, or plead guilty to, under section 566.062;
(6) Have been found guilty of, or plead guilty to, in the first degree under section 566.067 when classified as a ;
(7) Have been found to be a under section 566.125*; or
(8) Have been found guilty of, or plead guilty to, any for which there exists a against either probation or .
5. At the end of the three-year pilot, the director of the department of corrections and the director of the department of mental health shall jointly submit recommendations to the governor and to the general assembly by December 31, 2015, on whether to expand the process statewide.
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Source & history notes
(L. 2012 H.B. 1318, A.L. 2013 H.B. 215) *Section 558.018 was transferred to section 566.125 by S.B. 491, 2014, effective 1-01-17.
Related Missouri laws
Appeals, probation not to be granted, when
RSMo 559.115
Probation may be granted, when
RSMo 559.120
Bond may be required
RSMo 559.110
Record of applications for probation or parole to be kept
RSMo 559.125
Notification of monitoring to highway patrol
RSMo 559.107
Lifetime supervision of certain sexual offenders
RSMo 559.106
Legal information, not legal advice. Always confirm with the official source at revisor.mo.gov.