PUBLIC LAW 110–416—OCT. 14, 2008 

MENTALLY ILL OFFENDER TREATMENT AND 

CRIME REDUCTION REAUTHORIZATION AND 

IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2008 


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122 STAT. 4352 PUBLIC LAW 110–416—OCT. 14, 2008 

Public Law 110–416 

110th Congress 

An Act 

To amend title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 

to provide grants for the improved mental health treatment and services provided 

to offenders with mental illnesses, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mentally 

Ill Offender Treatment and Crime Reduction Reauthorization and 

Improvement Act of 2008’’. 

(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for this Act 

is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Findings. 

Sec. 3. Reauthorization of the Adult and Juvenile Collaboration Program Grants. 

Sec. 4. Law enforcement response to mentally ill offenders improvement grants. 

Sec. 5. Examination and report on prevalence of mentally ill offenders. 

SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

Congress finds the following: 

(1) Communities nationwide are struggling to respond to 

the high numbers of people with mental illnesses involved 

at all points in the criminal justice system. 

(2) A 1999 study by the Department of Justice estimated 

that 16 percent of people incarcerated in prisons and jails 

in the United States, which is more than 300,000 people, suffer 

from mental illnesses. 

(3) Los Angeles County Jail and New York’s Rikers Island 

jail complex hold more people with mental illnesses than the 

largest psychiatric inpatient facilities in the United States. 

(4) State prisoners with a mental health problem are twice 

as likely as those without a mental health problem to have 

been homeless in the year before their arrest. 

SEC. 3. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE ADULT AND JUVENILE 

COLLABORATION PROGRAM GRANTS. 

(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS THROUGH 2014.—Section 2991(h) of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3797aa(h)) is amended— 

(1) in paragraph (1), by striking at the end ‘‘and’’; 

(2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘for fiscal years 2006 

through 2009.’’ and inserting ‘‘for each of the fiscal years 2006 

and 2007; and’’; and 

(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

42 USC 3797aa 

note. 

Mentally Ill 

Offender 

Treatment and 

Crime Reduction 

Reauthorization 

and 

Improvement 

Act of 2008. 

42 USC 3711 

note. 

Oct. 14, 2008 

[S. 2304] 


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PUBLIC LAW 110–416—OCT. 14, 2008 122 STAT. 4353 

‘‘(3) $50,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2009 through 

2014.’’. 

(b) ALLOCATION OF FUNDING FOR ADMINISTRATIVE PURPOSES.— 

Section 2991(h) of such title is further amended— 

(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) (as added 

by subsection (a)(3)) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), respectively, and adjusting the margins accordingly; 

(2) by striking ‘‘There are authorized’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) 

IN GENERAL.—There are authorized’’; and 

(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

‘‘(2) ALLOCATION OF FUNDING FOR ADMINISTRATIVE PURPOSES.— 

For fiscal year 2009 and each subsequent fiscal year, of the amounts 

authorized under paragraph (1) for such fiscal year, the Attorney 

General may obligate not more than 3 percent for the administrative 

expenses of the Attorney General in carrying out this section for 

such fiscal year.’’. 

(c) ADDITIONAL APPLICATIONS RECEIVING PRIORITY.—Subsection 

(c) of such section is amended to read as follows: 

‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—The Attorney General, in awarding funds under 

this section, shall give priority to applications that— 

‘‘(1) promote effective strategies by law enforcement to 

identify and to reduce risk of harm to mentally ill offenders 

and public safety; 

‘‘(2) promote effective strategies for identification and treatment of female mentally ill offenders; 

‘‘(3) promote effective strategies to expand the use of mental 

health courts, including the use of pretrial services and related 

treatment programs for offenders; or 

‘‘(4)(A) demonstrate the strongest commitment to ensuring 

that such funds are used to promote both public health and 

public safety; 

‘‘(B) demonstrate the active participation of each coapplicant in the administration of the collaboration program; 

‘‘(C) document, in the case of an application for a grant 

to be used in whole or in part to fund treatment services 

for adults or juveniles during periods of incarceration or detention, that treatment programs will be available to provide 

transition and reentry services for such individuals; and 

‘‘(D) have the support of both the Attorney General and 

the Secretary.’’. 

SEC. 4. LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE TO MENTALLY ILL OFFENDERS 

IMPROVEMENT GRANTS. 

Section 2991 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3797aa) is amended by— 

(1) redesignating subsection (h) as subsection (i); and 

(2) inserting after subsection (g) the following: 

‘‘(h) LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE TO MENTALLY ILL

OFFENDERS IMPROVEMENT GRANTS.— 

‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney General is authorized 

to make grants under this section to States, units of local 

government, Indian tribes, and tribal organizations for the 

following purposes: 

‘‘(A) TRAINING PROGRAMS.—To provide for programs 

that offer law enforcement personnel specialized and comprehensive training in procedures to identify and respond 


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122 STAT. 4354 PUBLIC LAW 110–416—OCT. 14, 2008 

appropriately to incidents in which the unique needs of 

individuals with mental illnesses are involved. 

‘‘(B) RECEIVING CENTERS.—To provide for the development of specialized receiving centers to assess individuals 

in the custody of law enforcement personnel for suicide 

risk and mental health and substance abuse treatment 

needs. 

‘‘(C) IMPROVED TECHNOLOGY.—To provide for computerized information systems (or to improve existing systems) 

to provide timely information to law enforcement personnel 

and criminal justice system personnel to improve the 

response of such respective personnel to mentally ill 

offenders. 

‘‘(D) COOPERATIVE PROGRAMS.—To provide for the 

establishment and expansion of cooperative efforts by 

criminal and juvenile justice agencies and mental health 

agencies to promote public safety through the use of effective intervention with respect to mentally ill offenders. 

‘‘(E) CAMPUS SECURITY PERSONNEL TRAINING.—To provide for programs that offer campus security personnel 

training in procedures to identify and respond appropriately to incidents in which the unique needs of individuals with mental illnesses are involved. 

‘‘(2) BJA TRAINING MODELS.—For purposes of paragraph 

(1)(A), the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance shall 

develop training models for training law enforcement personnel 

in procedures to identify and respond appropriately to incidents 

in which the unique needs of individuals with mental illnesses 

are involved, including suicide prevention. 

‘‘(3) MATCHING FUNDS.—The Federal share of funds for 

a program funded by a grant received under this subsection 

may not exceed 50 percent of the costs of the program. The 

non-Federal share of payments made for such a program may 

be made in cash or in-kind fairly evaluated, including planned 

equipment or services.’’. 

SEC. 5. EXAMINATION AND REPORT ON PREVALENCE OF MENTALLY 

ILL OFFENDERS. 

(a) IN GENERAL.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General shall examine and 

report on mental illness and the criminal justice system. 

(2) SCOPE.—Congress encourages the Attorney General to 

specifically examine the following: 

(A) POPULATIONS.—The rate of occurrence of serious 

mental illnesses in each of the following populations: 

(i) Individuals, including juveniles, on probation. 

(ii) Individuals, including juveniles, incarcerated 

in a jail. 

(iii) Individuals, including juveniles, incarcerated 

in a prison. 

(iv) Individuals, including juveniles, on parole. 

(B) BENEFITS.—The percentage of individuals in each 

population described in subparagraph (A) who have— 

(i) a serious mental illness; and 

(ii) received disability benefits under title II or 

title XVI of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 

et seq. and 1381 et seq.). 


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PUBLIC LAW 110–416—OCT. 14, 2008 122 STAT. 4355 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY—S. 2304 (H.R. 3992): 

HOUSE REPORTS: No. 110–514 accompanying H.R. 3992 (Comm. on the Judiciary). 

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 154 (2008): 

Sept. 26, considered and passed Senate. 

Sept. 27, 29, considered and passed House. 

Æ 

(b) REPORT.—Not later than 36 months after the date of the 

enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress the report described in subsection (a). 

(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

(1) the term ‘‘serious mental illness’’ means that an individual has, or at any time during the 1-year period ending 

on the date of enactment of this Act had, a covered mental, 

behavioral, or emotional disorder; and 

(2) the term ‘‘covered mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder’’— 

(A) means a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder of sufficient duration to meet diagnostic 

criteria specified within the Diagnostic and Statistical 

Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, or the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical 

Modification equivalent of the Diagnostic and Statistical 

Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition; and 

(B) does not include a disorder that has a V code 

within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental 

Disorders, Fourth Edition, a substance use disorder, or 

a developmental disorder, unless that disorder cooccurs 

with another disorder described in subparagraph (A) and 

causes functional impairment which substantially interferes with or limits 1 or more major life activities. 

(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are authorized 

to be appropriated to carry out this section $2,000,000 for 2009. 

Approved October 14, 2008. 


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