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Senate moves to create mental health courts; sponsors say courts reflect evolving needs
Summary
Senate substitute for SB 218 was adopted and perfected; the bill would authorize mental health courts in Missouri, modeled on existing specialty courts, and reference a statutory definition of mental health disorder already in law.
Senators adopted a Senate substitute for Senate Bill 218 and declared the measure perfected and ordered printed. The sponsor said the bill would provide for mental health courts and described the measure as responding to requests from judicial circuits across Missouri.
The sponsor, the senator from Livingston, outlined the history of specialty courts in Missouri—adult treatment courts, DWI courts, family courts, juvenile courts and veterans courts—and said mental health courts have emerged as a need in many circuits. He told colleagues he supported using best practices and model checklists to structure the courts and emphasized that treatment courts aim to reduce recidivism and return participants to productive roles in the economy.
Floor questioners pressed for definitions and statutory references. A senator asked whether the bill defines “mental health disorder.” The sponsor pointed to the substitute’s language (page 2, line 30 onward) that provides a definition in the bill text and said the substitute references the statutory definition already used by courts. The sponsor said the change is intended to give courts an explicit statutory tool to authorize specialty mental health dockets and to support local judicial circuits in implementing them.
Supporters noted the bill grew from recommendations of a state substance-abuse task force and that the Supreme Court and local stakeholders participated in drafting. One senator said she had worked in a DWI treatment court and praised treatment courts’ low recidivism among program graduates.
The substitute was adopted by voice vote and declared perfected and ordered printed. The transcript records no roll-call tally; the presiding officer said, “the ayes do have it.”
