The general assembly finds and declares that, based upon the findings and recommendations of the 1999 interim committee to study the treatment of persons with mental illness in the Colorado criminal justice system, detecting behavioral or mental health disorders in persons in the criminal justice system is a difficult process with no current statewide standards or requirements. The lack of a standardized screening process to detect persons with behavioral or mental health disorders in the criminal justice system is a significant impediment to consistent identification, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of all offenders with behavioral or mental health disorders, ultimately resulting in an increased rate of recidivism. Therefore, the general assembly resolves to create a standardized screening process to be utilized at each stage of the criminal justice system to identify persons with behavioral or mental health disorders.
Source: L. 2000: Entire article added, p. 201, § 1, effective March 29. L. 2017: Entire section amended, (SB 17-242), ch. 263, p. 1300, § 125, effective May 25.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration in SB 17-242, see section 1 of chapter 263, Session Laws of Colorado 2017.