Mentally Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and Improvement Act of 2008

PUBLIC LAW 110–416—OCT. 14, 2008

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MENTALLY ILL OFFENDER TREATMENT AND
CRIME REDUCTION REAUTHORIZATION AND
IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2008

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122 STAT. 4352

PUBLIC LAW 110–416—OCT. 14, 2008

Public Law 110–416
110th Congress
An Act
Oct. 14, 2008
[S. 2304]

Mentally Ill
Offender
Treatment and
Crime Reduction
Reauthorization
and
Improvement
Act of 2008.
42 USC 3711
note.

To amend title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968
to provide grants for the improved mental health treatment and services provided
to offenders with mental illnesses, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mentally
Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and
Improvement Act of 2008’’.
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for this Act
is as follows:
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.

42 USC 3797aa
note.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:
(1) Communities nationwide are struggling to respond to
the high numbers of people with mental illnesses involved
at all points in the criminal justice system.
(2) A 1999 study by the Department of Justice estimated
that 16 percent of people incarcerated in prisons and jails
in the United States, which is more than 300,000 people, suffer
from mental illnesses.
(3) Los Angeles County Jail and New York’s Rikers Island
jail complex hold more people with mental illnesses than the
largest psychiatric inpatient facilities in the United States.
(4) State prisoners with a mental health problem are twice
as likely as those without a mental health problem to have
been homeless in the year before their arrest.
SEC.

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Short title; table of contents.
Findings.
Reauthorization of the Adult and Juvenile Collaboration Program Grants.
Law enforcement response to mentally ill offenders improvement grants.
Examination and report on prevalence of mentally ill offenders.

3.

REAUTHORIZATION OF THE ADULT
COLLABORATION PROGRAM GRANTS.

AND

JUVENILE

(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS THROUGH 2014.—Section 2991(h) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe
Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3797aa(h)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking at the end ‘‘and’’;
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘for fiscal years 2006
through 2009.’’ and inserting ‘‘for each of the fiscal years 2006
and 2007; and’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

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PUBLIC LAW 110–416—OCT. 14, 2008

122 STAT. 4353

‘‘(3) $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2009 through
2014.’’.
(b) ALLOCATION OF FUNDING FOR ADMINISTRATIVE PURPOSES.—
Section 2991(h) of such title is further amended—
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) (as added
by subsection (a)(3)) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), respectively, and adjusting the margins accordingly;
(2) by striking ‘‘There are authorized’’ and inserting ‘‘(1)
IN GENERAL.—There are authorized’’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
‘‘(2) ALLOCATION OF FUNDING FOR ADMINISTRATIVE PURPOSES.—
For fiscal year 2009 and each subsequent fiscal year, of the amounts
authorized under paragraph (1) for such fiscal year, the Attorney
General may obligate not more than 3 percent for the administrative
expenses of the Attorney General in carrying out this section for
such fiscal year.’’.
(c) ADDITIONAL APPLICATIONS RECEIVING PRIORITY.—Subsection
(c) of such section is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—The Attorney General, in awarding funds under
this section, shall give priority to applications that—
‘‘(1) promote effective strategies by law enforcement to
identify and to reduce risk of harm to mentally ill offenders
and public safety;
‘‘(2) promote effective strategies for identification and treatment of female mentally ill offenders;
‘‘(3) promote effective strategies to expand the use of mental
health courts, including the use of pretrial services and related
treatment programs for offenders; or
‘‘(4)(A) demonstrate the strongest commitment to ensuring
that such funds are used to promote both public health and
public safety;
‘‘(B) demonstrate the active participation of each coapplicant in the administration of the collaboration program;
‘‘(C) document, in the case of an application for a grant
to be used in whole or in part to fund treatment services
for adults or juveniles during periods of incarceration or detention, that treatment programs will be available to provide
transition and reentry services for such individuals; and
‘‘(D) have the support of both the Attorney General and
the Secretary.’’.

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SEC. 4. LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE TO MENTALLY ILL OFFENDERS
IMPROVEMENT GRANTS.

Section 2991 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and
Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3797aa) is amended by—
(1) redesignating subsection (h) as subsection (i); and
(2) inserting after subsection (g) the following:
‘‘(h) LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE TO MENTALLY ILL
OFFENDERS IMPROVEMENT GRANTS.—
‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General is authorized
to make grants under this section to States, units of local
government, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations for the
following purposes:
‘‘(A) TRAINING PROGRAMS.—To provide for programs
that offer law enforcement personnel specialized and comprehensive training in procedures to identify and respond

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122 STAT. 4354

PUBLIC LAW 110–416—OCT. 14, 2008
appropriately to incidents in which the unique needs of
individuals with mental illnesses are involved.
‘‘(B) RECEIVING CENTERS.—To provide for the development of specialized receiving centers to assess individuals
in the custody of law enforcement personnel for suicide
risk and mental health and substance abuse treatment
needs.
‘‘(C) IMPROVED TECHNOLOGY.—To provide for computerized information systems (or to improve existing systems)
to provide timely information to law enforcement personnel
and criminal justice system personnel to improve the
response of such respective personnel to mentally ill
offenders.
‘‘(D) COOPERATIVE PROGRAMS.—To provide for the
establishment and expansion of cooperative efforts by
criminal and juvenile justice agencies and mental health
agencies to promote public safety through the use of effective intervention with respect to mentally ill offenders.
‘‘(E) CAMPUS SECURITY PERSONNEL TRAINING.—To provide for programs that offer campus security personnel
training in procedures to identify and respond appropriately to incidents in which the unique needs of individuals with mental illnesses are involved.
‘‘(2) BJA TRAINING MODELS.—For purposes of paragraph
(1)(A), the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance shall
develop training models for training law enforcement personnel
in procedures to identify and respond appropriately to incidents
in which the unique needs of individuals with mental illnesses
are involved, including suicide prevention.
‘‘(3) MATCHING FUNDS.—The Federal share of funds for
a program funded by a grant received under this subsection
may not exceed 50 percent of the costs of the program. The
non-Federal share of payments made for such a program may
be made in cash or in-kind fairly evaluated, including planned
equipment or services.’’.

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SEC. 5. EXAMINATION AND REPORT ON PREVALENCE OF MENTALLY
ILL OFFENDERS.

(a) IN GENERAL.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall examine and
report on mental illness and the criminal justice system.
(2) SCOPE.—Congress encourages the Attorney General to
specifically examine the following:
(A) POPULATIONS.—The rate of occurrence of serious
mental illnesses in each of the following populations:
(i) Individuals, including juveniles, on probation.
(ii) Individuals, including juveniles, incarcerated
in a jail.
(iii) Individuals, including juveniles, incarcerated
in a prison.
(iv) Individuals, including juveniles, on parole.
(B) BENEFITS.—The percentage of individuals in each
population described in subparagraph (A) who have—
(i) a serious mental illness; and
(ii) received disability benefits under title II or
title XVI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401
et seq. and 1381 et seq.).

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PUBLIC LAW 110–416—OCT. 14, 2008

122 STAT. 4355

(b) REPORT.—Not later than 36 months after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress the report described in subsection (a).
(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—
(1) the term ‘‘serious mental illness’’ means that an individual has, or at any time during the 1-year period ending
on the date of enactment of this Act had, a covered mental,
behavioral, or emotional disorder; and
(2) the term ‘‘covered mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder’’—
(A) means a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder of sufficient duration to meet diagnostic
criteria specified within the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, or the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical
Modification equivalent of the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition; and
(B) does not include a disorder that has a V code
within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, Fourth Edition, a substance use disorder, or
a developmental disorder, unless that disorder cooccurs
with another disorder described in subparagraph (A) and
causes functional impairment which substantially interferes with or limits 1 or more major life activities.
(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized
to be appropriated to carry out this section $2,000,000 for 2009.
Approved October 14, 2008.

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LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 2304 (H.R. 3992):
HOUSE REPORTS: No. 110–514 accompanying H.R. 3992 (Comm. on the Judiciary).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 154 (2008):
Sept. 26, considered and passed Senate.
Sept. 27, 29, considered and passed House.

Æ

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