A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE JOINT LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE ON Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services TO STUDY THE INCIDENCE OF MENTAL ILLNESS AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROBLEMS IN THE NORTH CAROLINA PRISON AND JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEMS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  The Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services ("Oversight Committee") shall study the incidence of mental illness and substance abuse problems among inmates in the North Carolina prison and juvenile justice systems.  In conducting the study, the Oversight Committee shall do the following:
(1)	Compare costs of treatment for mental illness and substance abuse with the costs of detention or imprisonment.
(2)	Ascertain the ways in which individuals with mental illness or substance abuse problems end up in the criminal justice system.
(3)	Recommend ways to appropriately divert first offenders who have mental illness or substance abuse problems into treatment programs.
(4)	Examine the impact that mental illness or substance abuse problems in youthful offenders have on the juvenile justice system and whether the absence or delay in treatment contributes to recidivism and ultimately involvement in the criminal justice system as adults.
SECTION 2.(a)  The Oversight Committee shall submit a report on the study, including recommended legislation, to the 2005 General Assembly, upon its convening. All reports shall be filed with the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Legislative Librarian.  The Oversight Committee shall provide copies of its reports to system entities such as social services, juvenile justice, education, and other appropriate entities.
SECTION 2.(b)  All State departments and agencies shall cooperate with the Oversight Committee and, upon request, shall furnish to the Oversight Committee and its staff any information in their possession or available to them.
SECTION 3.  From funds appropriated to the General Assembly, the Legislative Services Commission shall allocate funds for the expenses of the Oversight Committee.
SECTION 4.  This act is effective when it becomes law.