Oklahoma § 22-472 - Anna McBride Act – Mental health courts

§ 22-472. Anna McBride Act – Mental health courts

A. This section shall be known and may be cited as the “Anna

McBride Act”.

B. Any district or municipal court of this state may establish

a mental health court program pursuant to the provisions of this

section, subject to the availability of funds.

C. The court may request assistance from the Department of

Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services which shall be the

primary agency to assist in developing and implementing a mental

health court program.

D. For purposes of this section, “mental health court” means a

judicial process that utilizes specially trained court personnel to

expedite a case and explore alternatives to incarceration for an

offender charged with criminal offenses other than a crime listed in

paragraph 2 of Section 571 of Title 57 of the Oklahoma Statutes who

has a mental illness or a developmental disability, or a cooccurring mental illness and substance abuse disorder. The district

attorney’s office may use discretion in the prosecution of an

offender specified in this subsection subject to the restrictions

provided in subsection E of this section.

E. The court shall have the authority to exclude from mental

health court any offender arrested or charged with any violent

offense or any offender who has a prior felony conviction in this

state or another state for a violent offense. Eligibility and entry

by an offender into the mental health court program is dependent

upon prior approval of the district attorney. Eligible offenses may

further be restricted by the rules of the specific mental health

court program. The court shall have the authority to exclude

persons from mental health court who have a propensity for violence.

F. The mental health court judge shall recognize relapses and

restarts in the program which shall be considered as part of the

rehabilitation and recovery process. The court shall accomplish

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 22. Criminal Procedure

monitoring and offender accountability by ordering progressively

increasing sanctions or providing incentives, rather than removing

the offender from the program when a violation occurs, except when

the conduct of the offender requires revocation from the program.

Any revocation from the mental health court program shall require

notice to the offender and other participating parties in the case

and a revocation hearing. At the revocation hearing, if the

offender is found to have violated the conditions of the plea

agreement or performance contract and disciplinary sanctions have

been insufficient to gain compliance, the offender shall be revoked

from the program and sentenced for the offense as provided in the

plea agreement.

G. Any criminal case which has been filed and processed in the

traditional manner shall be cross-referenced to a mental health

court case file by the court clerk if the case is subsequently

assigned to a mental health court program. The originating criminal

case file shall remain open to public inspection. The court shall

determine what information or pleadings are to be retained in the

mental health case court file, which shall be closed to public

inspection.

Added by Laws 2002, c. 285, § 1. Amended by Laws 2003, c. 76, § 1,

eff. Nov. 1, 2003; Laws 2014, c. 180, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2014; Laws

2021, c. 170, § 1, eff. Nov. 1, 2021.