HB 39: Correctional Health Amendments - Utah

Substitute #4 → Enrolled · 2 edits · Mar 24, 2025

MINOR

The bill text was updated to include a new cosponsor and revised the effective date from March 5 to March 14, 2025. The substantive policy language regarding inmate health care, mental health authority responsibilities, and supervision fees remains unchanged.

Scope change

The scope of the bill's provisions remains the same; only the legislative metadata and effective date were modified.

TIMELINE

The effective date of the bill was changed from March 5, 2025 to March 14, 2025.

TECHNICAL

A new cosponsor, Melissa G. Ballard, was added to the Senate sponsorship list.

Introduced → Substitute #1 · 7 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended to add a Senate sponsor and expand its scope to include mental health assessments for inmates nearing release, ensuring they comply with court orders for involuntary commitment or treatment as a condition of parole. Funding sources were consolidated into a single $13 million appropriation from various sources, and the definition of unanticipated high-cost care was updated to include costs for an electronic health record system. Several sections were renumbered and minor text adjustments were made throughout the document.

Scope change

The bill's scope was expanded to require the Department of Health and Human Services to assess certain inmates for involuntary commitment, assisted outpatient treatment, or assertive community treatment six months before release, and to mandate that the Board of Pardons and Parole enforce these orders as conditions of parole.

REQUIREMENT

Added a requirement for the Department of Health and Human Services to assess specific inmates six months before release to determine if they need involuntary commitment, assisted outpatient treatment, or assignment to a forensic assertive community treatment team.

ENFORCEMENT

Added authority for the Board of Pardons and Parole to require inmates to comply with court orders for involuntary commitment or treatment as a condition of parole.

Modified Section 77-27-5 to require the Board of Pardons and Parole to comply with new assessment requirements when determining parole conditions.

FISCAL

Modified the funding description to consolidate the $13 million appropriation into a single line item from various sources, removing the breakdown of specific fund transfers.

DEFINITION

Added a new definition for 'Assertive community treatment team' to Section 26B-4-901.

TECHNICAL

Added a Senate Sponsor to the bill header and updated the long title to reflect the new provisions regarding inmate mental health assessments.

Renumbered several sections (e.g., 26B-4-902, 26B-4-907) and adjusted section numbers throughout the text to reflect the new structure.

Substitute #3 → Substitute #4 · 9 edits

MAJOR

This bill updates Utah's correctional health care framework by adding new requirements for inmate mental health services, electronic health records, and opioid treatment. It removes the $10 million appropriation while adding technical amendments to existing mental health and employee pay sections. The changes aim to improve inmate care coordination and reporting standards.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include new requirements for telehealth psychiatric consultations, electronic health record system studies, and opioid use disorder treatment plans for inmates, while removing the specific funding appropriation.

FISCAL

Removed the $10,000,000 appropriation for correctional health services that was included in the previous version.

REQUIREMENT

Added requirement for the Department of Health and Human Services to contract with a telehealth psychiatric consultation provider for inmate psychiatric care staff.

Added requirement to convene a working group to study electronic health record system needs for inmate health care by June 30, 2025.

Added requirement to provide annual reports to the Health and Human Services Interim Committee on inmate health care provision.

Added requirement to prepare and implement a plan for opioid use disorder treatment for all inmates, including medication assisted treatment.

Added requirement for Department of Corrections and local mental health authorities to cooperate on assessing offenders for community-based services.

TIMELINE

Modified effective date from May 7, 2025 to March 5, 2025 in the substitute version.

TECHNICAL

Modified formatting and line breaks in the long title and highlighted provisions sections.

Modified Utah Code section references in the Utah Code Sections Affected list to remove chapter numbers.

Substitute #2 → Substitute #3 · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill substitutes a revised version of HB 39 that maintains most of the original correctional health provisions but reduces the appropriated funding amount and updates the Senate Sponsor name. The substantive policy content regarding inmate health care requirements, staffing, electronic health records, and substance use treatment remains largely unchanged from the previous version, with only minor formatting adjustments and the reduction of the appropriation from $13 million to $10 million.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on improving health care for individuals in the justice system, with no changes to the applicability of provisions to inmates, correctional facilities, or local mental health authorities.

FISCAL

The total appropriation for correctional health services was reduced from $13,000,000 to $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2026.

TECHNICAL

The Senate Sponsor name was updated from 'LONG TITLE' to 'Scott D. Sandall' in the header information.

Minor formatting changes were made to the highlighted provisions section, including reformatting bullet points and adjusting line breaks for readability.

Some redundant or duplicate line numbers and formatting artifacts from the previous version were removed to clean up the document structure.

Substitute #1 → Substitute #2 · 7 edits

MODERATE

This bill substitutes a revised version of HB 39 that maintains most correctional health care provisions but adds new requirements for community-based mental health services. The key change is expanding the scope to include local mental health authorities and community-based service referrals for certain offenders, while removing the Senate sponsor name and adjusting some code section references.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from focusing primarily on Department of Health and Human Services correctional health care to also include requirements for local mental health authorities and community-based service connections for offenders nearing release.

REQUIREMENT

Added requirement for Department of Corrections and local mental health authorities to cooperate on assessing offenders for community-based services and connecting them to appropriate care upon release.

Added new Section 17-43-301 establishing responsibilities for local mental health authorities to provide mental health services and promote integrated programs addressing substance use, mental health, and physical healthcare needs.

DEFINITION

Added new definitions for 'Assisted outpatient treatment', 'Crisis worker', 'Local mental health crisis line', 'Mental health therapist', and 'Statewide mental health crisis line'.

TECHNICAL

Removed Senate Sponsor name (Scott D. Sandall) from the bill header.

Updated Utah Code Sections Affected list to include 17-43-301 and 64-13-21, and removed 63A-17-307 from the amended sections list.

Changed General Description language from 'correctional health care' to 'health care for individuals who are involved with the justice system' for broader applicability.

TIMELINE

Added timestamp information (02-20 17:41) indicating this is the 2nd substitute version from February 20.

Correctional Health Amendments

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