MO SB995

Director of the Department of Corrections authorized to establish a three-year pilot program for mental health assessments of offenders in participating judicial circuits

Sentencing judges may request placement of probation-eligible offenders in the Department of Corrections for 120 days of mental health assessment and treatment upon prosecutor motion, if the offender appears to have a mental disorder or mental illness

Victims must be given notice of such motions and opportunity to be heard in court before judges rule on placement requests

Probation is prohibited for offenders convicted of second-degree murder, forcible rape, statutory rape or sodomy in the first degree, first-degree child molestation (class A felonies), or predatory sexual offenders, regardless of mental health assessment

Directors of the Department of Corrections and Department of Mental Health must jointly submit recommendations to the governor and general assembly by December 31, 2013, on whether to expand the program statewide