HB 485 Kentucky House · 2026 Regular Session

AN ACT relating to the care and treatment of individuals with mental illness.

Summary
Amend KRS 202A.011 to define "benefit from treatment," "individual with a mental illness," and "severe mental illness"; remove "mentally ill person" and redefine "danger"; amend KRS 202A.028 to allow the Commonwealth to file an emergency motion to be heard within 48 hours regarding the hospitalization of an individual with a mental illness who has been found by a qualified mental health professional to not meet the criteria for involuntary hospitalization; amend KRS 202A.051 to allow a court to order a respondent to participate in outpatient psychiatric treatment; allow a court to require a hospital to notify the court and the Commonwealth if the hospital releases a person who is hospitalized; allow a court to order a person released from hospitalization to participate in outpatient psychiatric treatment; require that any petition filed under this section to expire in 30 days if it has not been served on the respondent; amend KRS 202A.061 to allow the Commonwealth to file an emergency motion to be heard within 48 hours regarding the hospitalization of an individual with a mental illness who has been found by a qualified mental health professional to not meet the criteria for involuntary hospitalization; create new sections of KRS Chapter 202A to require the court to appoint an outpatient provider for every person who is ordered to community-based outpatient treatment; require a multidisciplinary team to regularly monitor a person's adherence to community-based outpatient treatment; allow a court or an authorized staff physician to order a 72 hour emergency admission to a hospital for every person who fails to comply with an order for community-based outpatient treatment; require the court to conduct a review hearing no later than 72 hours prior to the expiration or request for early release by a hospital of a period of involuntary hospitalization for individuals who have been diagnosed with a severe mental illness and within the past 12 months been involuntarily committed to a hospital setting or have been found incompetent to stand trial within the past 12 months; amend KRS 202A.0819 to allow a court to order a person who is receiving assisted outpatient treatment to comply with any other reasonable conditions; amend KRS 202A.0823 to allow a court to determine if a person should be ordered to receive specific care in line with his or her treatment plan; amend KRS 202A.091 to allow a petitioner who qualifies as a responsible party under KRS 311.631 to participate in an involuntary hospitalization proceeding and receive the respondent's discharge plan; amend KRS 202A.101 to allow a person to be transported to a hospital without a copy of the petition for involuntary hospitalization when a court orders it under KRS 202A.028 and 202A.061; amend KRS 202C.010 to amend the definition of "evidentiary hearing"; amend "individual with a mental illness" and remove "mentally ill person"; amend KRS 202C.020 to establish the duties and pay for the guardian ad litem in a 202C proceeding; amend KRS 202C.030 to extend the date of the evidentiary hearing from 20 to 45 days, unless the court orders a later hearing date for good cause shown; prohibit the respondent from using the insanity defense; amend KRS 202C.040 to extend the date of the commitment hearing from 20 to 45 days, unless the court orders a later hearing date for good cause shown; establish the duties of the guardian ad litem; amend KRS 202C.050 to remove criteria to be committed under this chapter; amend KRS 202C.060 to provide that after the initial standard review hearing, subsequent review hearings shall occur once every 2 years unless a material change has occurred; require competency evaluations to be conducted at least once every 2 years; amend KRS 202C.130 to include notice of motions filed by forensic psychiatric facilities to the Commonwealth and all other parties of record; amend various sections to conform; repeal KRS 202A.081, relating to court-ordered community-based outpatient treatment.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
House Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 23, 2026 Last action Feb 20, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Current/Final · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill updates legal definitions related to mental health care, primarily clarifying who qualifies as an 'individual with a mental illness' and expanding the criteria for determining 'danger' to include self-neglect and psychiatric deterioration. It also adjusts the definition of 'authorized staff physician' to ensure they are bona fide members of the hospital's medical staff.
Scope change
The scope of the bill's definitions has been broadened to include individuals who are unable to provide for their basic personal needs (self-neglect) and those experiencing a decline in functioning, in addition to those posing a physical risk of harm.
DEFINITION

The definition of 'danger' was expanded to include situations where a person cannot provide for basic needs like shelter, food, or medical care, and situations where a person's mental state is deteriorating to the point of impaired judgment.

The term 'authorized staff physician' was clarified to specifically require the physician to be a bona fide member of the hospital's medical staff.

The definition of 'individual with a mental illness' was updated to replace the older term 'mentally ill person' and refine the criteria for impaired capacity.

Floor votes · House Feb 19, 2026

How they voted

1000
Passed · 5 other
Total votes 105
Feb 19, 2026
D Democratic21
19 Yea 2
90% Yea
R Republican84
81 Yea 3
96% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
10
Key actions
2
Committee
4
Amendments
1
Feb 20, 2026
Committee
to Committee on Committees (S)
upper
Feb 19, 2026
Lower · Passed
3rd reading, passed 95-0 with Committee Substitute (1) and Floor Amendments (1) and (2)
lower
Feb 18, 2026
Introduced
floor amendments (1) and (2) filed to Committee Substitute
lower
Feb 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute (1)
lower
Feb 2, 2026
Committee
to Health Services (H)
lower
Jan 23, 2026
Committee
to Committee on Committees (H)
lower
Jan 23, 2026
Introduced
introduced in House
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.