3/14/02 2904s

2002 SESSION

02-3151

09/01

SENATE BILL 435-FN

COMMITTEE: Judiciary

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill requires the supreme court to establish a mental health court pilot program in the Keene District Court. The mental health court shall hear misdemeanor cases involving individuals with mental illness.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

3/14/02 2904s

02-3151

09/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Two

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

72:1 Purpose. The purpose of the mental health court pilot program in the Keene District Court is to maximize cooperation between the mental health treatment system and the criminal justice system. The program is intended to achieve the following outcomes for the mentally ill misdemeanant populations: faster case processing time, improved access to public mental health treatment services, improved well-being, and reduced recidivism. An important outcome which this program may achieve for the larger community is improved public safety.

72:2 Mental Health Court Pilot Program to be Established in the Keene District Court. The supreme court shall establish, through the adoption of rules, a mental health court pilot program in the Keene District Court. The mental health court shall hear misdemeanor cases involving mentally ill persons and divert such persons, when necessary, from the criminal justice system to appropriate mental health treatment programs and services.

72:3 Legislative Oversight Committee.

I. There is established a legislative oversight committee to study and make recommendations on the mental health court pilot program in the Keene District Court, established in section 2 of this act.

II.(a) The members of the legislative oversight committee shall be as follows:

(1) Three members of the senate, appointed by the president of the senate.

(2) Three members of the house of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house.

(b) Members of the committee shall receive mileage at the legislative rate when attending to the duties of the committee.

III. The legislative oversight committee shall study the mental health court pilot program and make recommendations on its continuation, funding, and expansion to other counties.

IV. The members of the legislative oversight committee shall elect a chairperson from among the members. The first meeting of the committee shall be called by the first-named senate member. The first meeting of the committee shall be held prior to October 1, 2003.

V. The legislative oversight committee shall report its findings and any recommendations for proposed legislation, including any recommendations for the continuation, funding, and expansion of the pilot program, to the senate president, the speaker of the house of representatives, the senate clerk, the house clerk, the governor, the chief justice of the supreme court, the administrative justice of the district courts, and the state library on or before January 1, 2004.

72:4 Repeal. Sections 1-3 of this act, relative to the mental health court pilot program in the Keene District Court and the legislative oversight committee, are repealed.

72:5 Effective Date.

I. Section 4 of this act shall take effect January 1, 2005.

II. The remainder of this act shall take effect January 1, 2003.

(Approved: May 1, 2002)

(Effective Date: I. Section 4 of this act shall take effect January 1, 2005.