HB 1442 Summary

• Establishes telehealth examination procedures for criminal defendants and creates automatic screening mechanism for nonviolent petty misdemeanor defendants to assess eligibility for involuntary hospitalization or assisted community treatment.

• Extends court-ordered assisted community treatment period from one year to two years and streamlines extension hearings by eliminating need to reconsider unchanged factors from existing orders.

• Authorizes courts to require probation violators to undergo mental health evaluation and treatment programs as conditions of continued probation when violations are associated with mental disease or disorder.

• Requires Department of Health to contract with behavioral health crisis centers in each county operating 24/7 to provide intervention and stabilization services for mental health and substance use crises, including dedicated first responder drop-off areas.

• Establishes a statewide Hawaii Urgency Response Center providing 24/7 access to mental health professionals, peer specialists, nurses, and physicians for behavioral health crises, with associated staffing and funding appropriations.