Committee extends Behavioral Health Conditional Dismissal pilot to 2031; funding sources identified

The House Appropriations and Revenue Committee on March 26 adopted and reported favorably Senate Bill 90, which modifies the Behavioral Health Conditional Dismissal pilot program.

Sponsor Senator Brandon Storm said the bill extends the program's sunset to January 1, 2031, allows voluntary expansion to additional counties and continues annual data collection and reporting to interim judiciary committees. “What we've done with Senate Bill 90 this session is to extend the sunset provision out to January 1st of 2031,” Storm said.

Representative Bojanowski asked how the expenses of an outside medical provider would be funded. Angie Darcy, executive officer of AOC Pretrial Services, answered that funding would come from the opioid abatement fund and that the program relies heavily on Medicaid; she said “about 99.9% participants qualify for Kentucky Medicaid on this program.”

The committee approved the substitute and then recorded a roll-call vote; the clerk reported 21 yes votes, zero no votes and zero pass votes. A title amendment was also adopted by voice vote. The committee reported SB 90 with a favorable recommendation and the bill will proceed to the House floor.

Provenance: Introductory remarks, funding exchange and roll-call action during the committee hearing.