CS/HB 7113 Summary

• Expands Military Veterans and Servicemembers Court Programs to include veterans with general discharges and creates treatment-based mental health court programs for defendants with mental illness in pretrial, postadjudicatory, and juvenile justice settings.

• Establishes the Forensic Hospital Diversion Pilot Program in Escambia, Hillsborough, and Miami-Dade Counties to provide community-based alternatives to state forensic mental health facility commitments for offenders with mental illness or co-occurring substance use disorders.

• Authorizes courts to transfer cases between counties' problem-solving courts with defendant consent and both courts' agreement, and allows county courts to order conditional release with outpatient care as an alternative to institutional commitment.

• Expands eligibility for pretrial mental health court programs for felony and misdemeanor defendants, including those charged with certain violent offenses (with victim/law enforcement consent), and allows disposition of charges upon successful program completion.

• Effective July 1, 2015; requires each judicial circuit to establish at least one coordinator position for mental health court programs and mandates annual data reporting to the Office of the State Courts Administrator.