SECTIONS 6044 - California Statutes

PENAL CODE

SECTION 6044

6044. (a) The Council on Mentally Ill Offenders is hereby
established within the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The council shall be composed of 11 members, one of whom shall be the
secretary of the department who shall be designated as the
chairperson, one of whom shall be the Director of Mental Health, and
nine of whom shall be appointed. The Governor shall appoint three
members, at least one of whom shall represent mental health. The
Senate Rules Committee shall appoint two members, one representing
law enforcement and one representing mental health. The Speaker of
the Assembly shall appoint two members, one representing law
enforcement and one representing mental health. The Attorney General
shall appoint one member. The Chief Justice of the California Supreme
Court shall appoint one member who shall be a superior court judge.
(b) The council shall select a vice chairperson from among its
members. Six members of the council shall constitute a quorum.
(c) The Director of Mental Health shall serve as the liaison to
the Health and Human Services Agency and any departments within that
agency necessary to further the purposes of this article.
(d) Members of the council shall receive no compensation, but
shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary travel expenses incurred
in the performance of their duties. For purposes of compensation,
attendance at meetings of the board shall be deemed performance by a
member of the duties of his or her state or local government
employment.
(e) The goal of the council shall be to investigate and promote
cost-effective approaches to meeting the long-term needs of adults
and juveniles with mental disorders who are likely to become
offenders or who have a history of offending. The council shall:
(1) Identify strategies for preventing adults and juveniles with
mental health needs from becoming offenders.
(2) Identify strategies for improving the cost-effectiveness of
services for adults and juveniles with mental health needs who have a
history of offending.
(3) Identify incentives to encourage state and local criminal
justice, juvenile justice, and mental health programs to adopt
cost-effective approaches for serving adults and juveniles with
mental health needs who are likely to offend or who have a history of
offending.
(f) The council shall consider strategies that:
(1) Improve service coordination among state and local mental
health, criminal justice, and juvenile justice programs.
(2) Improve the ability of adult and juvenile offenders with
mental health needs to transition successfully between
corrections-based, juvenile justice-based, and community-based
treatment programs.
(g) The Secretary of the Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation and the Director of Mental Health may furnish for the
use of the council those facilities, supplies, and personnel as may
be available therefor. The council may secure the assistance of any
state agency, department, or instrumentality in the course of its
work.
(h) (1) The Council on Mentally Ill Offenders shall file with the
Legislature, not later than December 31 of each year, a report that
shall provide details of the council's activities during the
preceding year. The report shall include recommendations for
improving the cost-effectiveness of mental health and criminal
justice programs.
(2) After the first year of operation, the council may recommend
to the Legislature and Governor modifications to its jurisdiction,
composition, and membership that will further the purposes of this
article.
(i) The Council on Mentally Ill Offenders is authorized to apply
for any funds that may be available from the federal government or
other sources to further the purposes of this article.
(j) (1) For purposes of this article, the council shall address
the needs of adults and juveniles who meet the following criteria:
persons who have been arrested, detained, incarcerated, or are at a
significant risk of being arrested, detained, or incarcerated, and
who have a mental disorder as defined in Section 1830.205 of Title 9
of the California Code of Regulations.
(2) The council may expand its purview to allow it to identify
strategies that are preventive in nature and could be directed to
identifiable categories of adults and juveniles that fall outside of
the above definitions.