HB191 Alabama 2015 Session

Under existing law, a court has authority to place a mentally ill defendant who poses a real and present threat of substantial harm to himself, herself, or to others into the custody of the Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Mental Health or into a public facility as the court may order

This bill would provide that a court may order the Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Mental Health to place a defendant in the Alabama Security Medical Facility and if the court places a defendant in the Alabama Security Medical Facility, the commissioner may not transfer the defendant to another facility without obtaining leave from the court that ordered the placement of the defendant

To amend Section 15-16-43 of the Code of Alabama 1975, relating to involuntary commitment findings of the court; to provide that a court may order the Commissioner of the Alabama Department of Mental Health to place a defendant in the Alabama Security Medical Facility under certain conditions; and to prohibit the commissioner from transferring a defendant placed by the court in the Alabama Security Medical Facility to another facility without obtaining leave from the court.