HB 589 Mississippi House · 2025 Regular Session

Mental Health; revise appointment of Board of Mental Health and Executive Director.

HB 589 revises Mississippi's governance structure for the State Board of Mental Health and its Executive Director. It removes the requirement for Senate confirmation of the Executive Director (previously mandated under Section 41-4-7) and adjusts board appointment rules, including specifying qualifications for certain members and changing term limits. The bill affects the State Board of Mental Health, its members, and the Executive Director position by altering how they are selected and serve. The legislation died in committee on March 4, 2025, and did not become law.

Bill status died 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2025

House Passage

Feb 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Feb 7, 2025 Last action Mar 4, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

As Introduced → Current version · 6 edits

MODERATE

This bill significantly restructures the Mississippi State Board of Mental Health by changing board composition from nine members to nine members with specific district requirements, modifying term lengths from staggered fixed terms to a four-year cycle starting in 2028, and removing Senate confirmation requirements for the Executive Director. The changes aim to modernize appointment procedures, extend board member terms for stability, and streamline executive leadership selection.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include new powers for the Board of Mental Health, including establishing mental health holding centers, developing Alzheimer's care plans, creating trust funds for Ellisville State School and Boswell Regional Center land sales, and implementing criminal background checks for all employees and volunteers.

REQUIREMENT

Board composition requirements changed from nine members with specific district representation to maintaining nine members but with modified appointment terms and a new four-year term cycle effective January 1, 2028.

Senate confirmation requirement for the Executive Director of the State Department of Mental Health was eliminated, and the position term requirement was removed.

Mandatory criminal history record checks and fingerprinting were added for all employees and volunteers of the Department of Mental Health.

FISCAL

New trust funds were created for Ellisville State School and Boswell Regional Center to manage proceeds from potential land sales, with interest earnings restricted to client benefits.

SCOPE

New powers granted to establish mental health holding centers for emergency treatment and to develop formal service delivery standards for quality measurement.

TIMELINE

Effective date changed from the original July 1, 2023 provisions to July 1, 2025, with a new four-year appointment cycle beginning January 1, 2028.

Floor votes · House Feb 6, 2025

How they voted

119–0

Passed

Total votes 119

Feb 6, 2025

D Democratic39

39 Yea

100% Yea

I Independent2

2 Yea

100% Yea

R Republican78

78 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 17, 2025

Committee

Referred To Government Structure

upper

Feb 7, 2025

Introduced

Transmitted To Senate

lower

Feb 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed

lower

Jan 23, 2025

Lower · Passed

Title Suff Do Pass

lower

Jan 15, 2025

Committee

Referred To Public Health and Human Services

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor