Bill > H1207

Introduced Session

An act relating to mental health; providing a short title; amending s. 394.658, F.S.; expanding the programs and diversion initiatives supported by implementation or expansion grants to include training for 911 public safety telecommunicators and emergency medical technicians for certain purposes and to include veterans treatment court programs; exempting certain fiscally constrained counties from local match requirements for specified grants; amending s. 916.105, F.S.; providing legislative intent; creating s. 916.135, F.S.; defining terms; encouraging communities to apply for specified grants to establish misdemeanor or ordinance violation mental health diversion programs; providing a model process for such mental health diversion programs; requiring adherence to specified provisions to the extent of available funds; authorizing specified entities to collaborate to establish certain policies and procedures and to develop a certain consent form; providing consent form requirements; requiring defendants to sign the consent form to participate in the diversion program; authorizing the screening of certain defendants and prompt evaluation for involuntary examination under certain circumstances; specifying procedures if the evaluation demonstrates that the defendant meets the criteria for involuntary examination; authorizing a court to consider releasing a defendant on his or her own recognizance under certain circumstances; requiring a court to order that a defendant be assessed for outpatient treatment under certain circumstances; authorizing the state attorney, the defense attorney, or the court to, at any stage of the criminal proceedings, request that such a defendant be screened pursuant to certain provisions; authorizing defendants out of custody to be evaluated pursuant to certain provisions; requiring the state attorney to consider dismissal of the charges upon a defendant's successful completion of all treatment recommendations from a mental health assessment; authorizing the court to exhaust therapeutic interventions aimed at improving compliance before a defendant is returned to jail; creating s. 916.136, F.S.; defining terms; encouraging communities to apply for specified grants to establish pretrial felony mental health diversion programs; providing a model process for such mental health diversion programs; authorizing specified entities to collaborate to establish certain policies and procedures and to develop a certain consent form; providing consent form requirements; requiring defendants to sign the consent form to participate in the diversion program; specifying criteria under which a defendant may be eligible for the mental health diversion program; specifying that the state attorney has the sole discretion to determine a defendant's pretrial felony mental health diversion eligibility; authorizing the state attorney to recommend that certain defendants be screened and offered pretrial felony mental health diversion; requiring defendants to sign the consent form to participate in the diversion program; requiring that a defendant be assessed for outpatient treatment upon his or her agreeing to participate in the mental health diversion program; requiring the state attorney to consider dismissal of the charges upon a defendant's successful completion of all treatment recommendations from a mental health assessment; authorizing the state attorney to revoke the defendant's participation in such mental health diversion program under specified circumstances; amending s. 916.185, F.S.; expanding eligibility for the Forensic Hospital Diversion Pilot Program to include Hillsborough County; creating s. 945.093, F.S.; requiring the Department of Corrections to evaluate the physical and mental health of each inmate eligible for work assignments and correctional work programs; requiring the department to document eligibility before the inmate receives orders for an assignment or program; creating s. 948.0395, F.S.; requiring mental health evaluations and the following of all recommendations as conditions of probation for specified defendants; amending s. 1004.649, F.S.; creating the Florida Behavioral Health Care Data Repository within the Northwest Regional Data Center; specifying the purposes of the data repository; requiring the Northwest Regional Data Center to develop a specified plan; requiring the Northwest Regional Data Center to submit, by a specified date, a certain developed plan to the Governor and the Legislature; requiring the Florida Behavioral Health Care Data Repository to submit, by a specified date and annually thereafter, a specified report to the Governor and the Legislature; providing an effective date.

Committee Categories

Nan Cobb (R)*,  Dan Daley (D)*,  Lindsay Cross (D),  Ashley Gantt (D),  Mike Gottlieb (D),  Rita Harris (D),  Jeff Holcomb (R),  Christine Hunschofsky (D),  Dotie Joseph (D),  Johanna López (D),  Danny Nix (R),  Angie Nixon (D),  Leonard Spencer (D),  Taylor Yarkosky (R), 

Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/SB 168 (Ch. 2025-180) (on 04/30/2025)

Official Document