MO SB352

Director of the Department of Corrections authorized to establish a three-year pilot program for mental health assessment of criminal offenders in participating counties

Upon prosecutor motion and judge request, offenders may be placed in the Department of Corrections for 120 days of mental health assessment and treatment if they appear to have mental disorders qualifying them for probation with Community Psychiatric Rehabilitation (CPR) programs

Victims must receive notice of the motion and opportunity to be heard before the judge rules; following assessment, the court may release eligible offenders on probation supervised by state probation and parole officers working with the Department of Mental Health

Probation cannot be granted under this section for offenders convicted of second-degree murder, forcible rape, statutory rape in the first degree, forcible sodomy, statutory sodomy in the first degree, first-degree child molestation (as class A felony), predatory sexual offenses, or crimes with statutory prohibitions against probation or parole

Directors of Corrections and Mental Health must jointly submit recommendations to the governor and general assembly by December 31, 2014, regarding statewide expansion of the program