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Bill would let tribal facilities and tribal police be used in involuntary commitment process, sponsor says
Summary
Representative Ben Fuhrman told the committee Senate Bill 1255 would allow tribal healthcare facilities to be acceptable sites for involuntary holds and include tribal police as peace officers for that purpose; tribal witnesses and the Department of Health and Welfare support the bill. The committee sent SB1255 to the floor with a do-pass recommendation.
Representative Ben Fuhrman presented Senate Bill 1255 to allow tribal healthcare facilities to be used as acceptable sites for involuntary commitment examinations and to clarify that a "peace officer" for the statute may include a tribal police officer.
"As proposed as a tribal healthcare facility as an acceptable site to hold an individual if a peace officer or medical staff at the facility believes the individual poses a grave threat to themselves or others due to a mental illness," Fuhrman said, noting the bill was drafted with the Department of Health and Welfare and in response to tribes' difficulties coordinating timely initial examinations.
Blake Hude, testifying for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe, urged the committee to send the bill to the floor, saying the measure was developed across Idaho tribes and the Health and Welfare Department; he said incidents where tribal facilities would be helpful occur roughly once or twice a year in some communities. After brief questioning, Representative Wheeler moved to send Senate Bill 1255 to the floor with a do-pass recommendation and the committee approved the motion.
