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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1505
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 6201
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT ALLOWING COURT DISCRETION TO ADD A FAMILY
VIOLENCE COMPONENT TO THE PRETRIAL SUPERVISED
DIVERSIONARY PROGRAM FOR PERSONS WITH PSYCHIATRIC
DISABILITIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 54-56l of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2025): 2
(a) There shall be a supervised diversionary program for persons 3
with psychiatric disabilities, or persons who are veterans, who are 4
accused of a crime or crimes or a motor vehicle violation or violations 5
for which a sentence to a term of imprisonment may be imposed, which 6
crimes or violations are not of a serious nature. For the purposes of this 7
section, (1) "psychiatric disability" means a mental or emotional 8
condition, other than solely substance abuse, that (A) has substantial 9
adverse effects on the defendant's ability to function, and (B) requires 10
care and treatment, and (2) "veteran" means a veteran, as defined in 11
section 27-103, who is found, pursuant to subsection (d) of this section, 12
to have a mental health condition that is amenable to treatment. 13
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(b) A person shall be ineligible to participate in such supervised 14
diversionary program if such person (1) is ineligible to participate in the 15
pretrial program for accelerated rehabilitation under subsection (c) of 16
section 54-56e, except if a person's ineligibility is based on the person's 17
being eligible for the pretrial family violence education program 18
established under section 46b-38c, the court may permit such person to 19
participate in the supervised diversionary program if it finds that the 20
supervised diversionary program is the more appropriate program 21
under the circumstances of the case, or (2) has twice previously 22
participated in such supervised diversionary program. 23
(c) Upon application by any such person for participation in such 24
program, the court shall, but only as to the public, order the court file 25
sealed, provided such person states under oath, in open court or before 26
any person designated by the clerk and duly authorized to administer 27
oaths, under penalties of perjury, that such person has not had such 28
program invoked in such person's behalf more than once. Court 29
personnel shall provide notice, on a form prescribed by the Office of the 30
Chief Court Administrator, to any victim of such crime or motor vehicle 31
violation, by registered or certified mail, that such person has applied to 32
participate in the program and that such victim has an opportunity to 33
be heard by the court on the matter. 34
(d) The court shall refer such person to the Court Support Services 35
Division for confirmation of eligibility and assessment of the person's 36
mental health condition. The prosecuting attorney shall provide the 37
division with a copy of the police report in the case to assist the division 38
in its assessment. The division shall determine if the person is amenable 39
to treatment and if appropriate community supervision, treatment and 40
services are available. In addition, if the person is accused of a family 41
violence crime, as defined in section 46b-38a, the division shall 42
determine if the person has the capacity to participate in domestic 43
violence treatment either in concurrence with or following the 44
completion of mental health treatment, and for good cause shown, add 45
a domestic violence component to the treatment plan that comports 46
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with the domestic violence program standards established pursuant to 47
section 46b-38m. If the division determines that stabilizing the person 48
and treating an underlying mental health condition is first required, 49
then a domestic violence component to the treatment plan that comports 50
with the domestic violence program standards established pursuant to 51
section 46b-38m shall be considered as a secondary treatment for the 52
person. If the division determines that the person is amenable to 53
treatment and that appropriate community supervision, treatment and 54
services are available, the division shall develop a treatment plan 55
tailored to the person and shall present the treatment plan to the court. 56
(e) Upon confirmation of eligibility and consideration of the 57
treatment plan presented by the Court Support Services Division, the 58
court may grant the application for participation in the program. If the 59
court grants the application, such person shall be referred to the 60
division. The division may collaborate with the Department of Mental 61
Health and Addiction Services, the Department of Veterans Affairs or 62
the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, as applicable, to place 63
such person in a program that provides appropriate community 64
supervision, treatment and services. The person shall be subject to the 65
supervision of a probation officer who has a reduced caseload and 66
specialized training in working with persons with psychiatric 67
disabilities. 68
(f) The Court Support Services Division shall establish policies and 69
procedures to require division employees to notify any victim of the 70
person admitted to the program of any conditions ordered by the court 71
that directly affect the victim and of such person's scheduled court 72
appearances with respect to the case. 73
(g) Any person who enters the program shall agree: (1) To the tolling 74
of the statute of limitations with respect to such crime or violation; (2) 75
to a waiver of such person's right to a speedy trial; and (3) to any 76
conditions that may be established by the division concerning 77
participation in the supervised diversionary program including 78
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conditions concerning participation in meetings or sessions of the 79
program. 80
(h) If the Court Support Services Division informs the court that such 81
person is ineligible for the program and the court makes a determination 82
of ineligibility or if the division certifies to the court that such person 83
did not successfully complete the assigned program, the court shall 84
order the court file to be unsealed, enter a plea of not guilty for such 85
person and immediately place the case on the trial list. 86
(i) If such person satisfactorily completes the assigned program, such 87
person may apply for dismissal of the charges against such person and 88
the court, on reviewing the record of such person's participation in such 89
program submitted by the Court Support Services Division and on 90
finding such satisfactory completion, shall dismiss the charges. If such 91
person does not apply for dismissal of the charges against such person 92
after satisfactorily completing the assigned program, the court, upon 93
receipt of the record of such person's participation in such program 94
submitted by the Court Support Services Division, may on its own 95
motion make a finding of such satisfactory completion and dismiss the 96
charges. Except as provided in subsection (j) of this section, upon 97
dismissal, all records of such charges shall be erased pursuant to section 98
54-142a. An order of the court denying a motion to dismiss the charges 99
against a person who has completed such person's period of probation 100
or supervision or terminating the participation of a person in such 101
program shall be a final judgment for purposes of appeal. 102
(j) The Court Support Services Division shall develop and maintain a 103
database of information concerning persons admitted to the supervised 104
diversionary program that shall be available to the state police and 105
organized local police departments for use by sworn police officers 106
when responding to incidents involving such persons. Such information 107
shall include the person's name, date of birth, Social Security number, 108
the violation or violations with which the person was charged, the dates 109
of program participation and whether a deadly weapon or dangerous 110
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instrument was involved in the violation or violations for which the 111
program was granted. The division shall enter such information in the 112
database upon such person's entry into the program, update such 113
information as necessary and retain such information for a period of five 114
years after the date of such person's entry into the program. 115
(k) The Court Support Services Division, in consultation with the 116
Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, shall develop 117
standards and oversee appropriate treatment programs to meet the 118
requirements of this section and may contract with service providers to 119
provide such programs. 120
(l) The Court Support Services Division shall retain the police report 121
provided to it by the prosecuting attorney and the record of supervision 122
including the dates of supervision and shall provide such information 123
to the court, prosecuting attorney and defense counsel whenever a court 124
is considering whether to grant an application by such person for 125
participation in the supervised diversionary program for a second time. 126
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2025 54-56l
Statement of Purpose:
To require the Court Support Services Division to determine if a person
has the capacity to participate in domestic violence treatment either in
concurrence with or following the completion of mental health
treatment in cases involving a family violence crime.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]