Bill would allow probate judges to consider substance abuse in involuntary commitment decisions

A bill pending in the Alabama Legislature would allow probate judges to consider someone’s substance abuse disorder along with mental illness when deciding involuntary commitments to state facilities.

Senate Bill 240 is the request and work of the Association of County Commissions of Alabama. It does not allow for people to be committed solely because of addiction, but when it’s co-occurring with mental health issues.

“What it does is allow the probate judge to say, this person is exhibiting these other issues,” said ACCA Executive Director Sonny Brasfield. “Let’s focus on those too.”

Brasfield said the legislation came from a group of county commissioners and experiences they’d seen in their families and communities.

Current law does not account for substance abuse when considering involuntary commitments.

“(The goal is) to get some recognition and ability for the probate judges to say, ‘OK, this person does have a mental illness, but this person also has a substance abuse issue that may be masking their mental illness’ so that the person can get that kind of direct treatment,” Brasfield told ADN on Monday.

The bill is sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road. An attorney, Barfoot said he started doing civil commitment hearings nearly 20 years ago.

“More and more people you see now have a dual diagnosis of mental health illness as well as a substance abuse-type disorder,” Barfoot told ADN.

Barfoot said some courts in the state think because substance abuse isn’t mentioned in the current law, it prohibits an involuntary commitment.

Brasfield and county leaders are hopeful that state leaders will soon direct opioid settlement funds to people who are struggling with mental health issues and substance abuse. Counties, as well as the Alabama Department of Mental Health, have made their pitches to a panel of lawmakers that will make recommendations on how the state should spend hundreds of millions of dollars in settlement money from opioid manufacturers.

More from this section

WATCH: GOP lawmaker voices opposition to gas tax increase

WATCH: Billionaire tax officially heads to Nov. 3 ballot

America’s teachers are being priced out of their communities − these cities are building subsidized housing to lure them back

“We have a severe shortage in commitment beds so this is to try to utilize some of that funding for this purpose,” Brasfield said. “What we hope comes out of this is an expansion of services for those who are facing a mental health crisis that coexists with substance abuse; that we can get custom services to them and have more money for additional beds and treatment avenues that then free up the existing beds and facilities for those with mental illnesses that don’t have substance abuse issues.”

The Alabama Department of Mental Health is supportive of the bill, agency spokeswoman Malissa Valdes said.

“The ADMH provided clarifying language for the bill,” she said. “We look forward to continuing our partnerships with the ACCA and probate judges, and providing the training needed to properly implement this law.”

The bill also says that if there is a commitment order and no bed is available, the probate judge can keep jurisdiction over the individual. Brasfield said what can currently happen if no bed space is immediately available is the individual, left without immediate help, can end up committing a crime and being jailed.

“When that happens, the probate judge loses jurisdiction and two days later when a commitment bed is available, the judge doesn’t have the ability to reach into the jail and get (the individual,)” Brasfield said.

The bill would give probate judges the ability to petition the municipal or district court and ask for release to involuntary commitment.

The bill has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Barfoot chairs.

In 2022, lawmakers and Gov. Kay Ivey approved legislation to allow a probate judge to look at someone’s behavior over a two-year period when considering involuntary commitment. 

That law also expanded the definition of “real and present danger” for involuntary commitments to include the risk that the individual may “cause, allow, or inflict serious bodily harm upon himself, herself, or another individual,” and “be unable to satisfy his or her need for nourishment, medical care, shelter, or self-protection so that there is a substantial likelihood of death, serious bodily harm, serious physical debilitation, serious mental debilitation, or life-threatening disease.”