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PA HB458
Bill
Status
12/16/2025
Primary Sponsor
Carol Hill-Evans
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AI Summary
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Allows veterans convicted of criminal offenses in Pennsylvania to petition for a mental health evaluation to determine if they have a service-connected mental health disability that contributed to their conviction
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Creates a new exception to the one-year deadline for postconviction relief petitions when a veteran's service-connected mental health disability diagnosis was not considered during the original proceedings
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Requires postconviction motions from veterans to be assigned to a veterans court or a judge trained in veterans matters, with the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs coordinating evaluations with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
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Adds service-connected mental health disability as a mitigating circumstance in first-degree murder sentencing, potentially affecting death penalty cases
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Protects veterans by prohibiting evaluation data from being entered into law enforcement databases or used as evidence against the applicant, and requires the Department of Corrections to be notified of disability status to ensure ADA protections
Legislative Description
In post-trial matters, further providing for eligibility for relief, providing for postconviction review for veterans with service-connected mental health disability and further providing for jurisdiction and proceedings; and, in sentencing, further providing for sentencing procedure for murder of the first degree.
Last Action
Referred to Judiciary
12/22/2025