RIVERSIDE, CA — Gov. Gavin Newsom signed state legislation over the weekend that revises how clinicians evaluate whether offenders with mental health disorders pose a public safety risk, and the Riverside County District Attorney's Office issued a statement of support Monday.
Assembly Bill 1897 updates state guidelines governing mentally disordered offenders (MDOs) by establishing specific criteria that psychiatrists and psychologists must evaluate when assessing an individual's potential for violence.
Under prior law, evaluations were not explicitly required to factor in key personal and behavioral elements, which prosecutors said led to inconsistent risk assessments across state cases.
Under the new law, evaluating mental health professionals must consider an offender's history of violence linked to their mental health disorder, current mental status, recent behavior, response to treatment, age, and physical capability to inflict harm.
Introduced by Assemblymember Matt Haney, D-San Francisco, the AB 1897 received sponsorship and advocacy support from Riverside County prosecutors aiming to close evaluation loopholes.
"This bill was inspired by the case of a repeat offender in San Francisco with a serious mental health disorder and a history of groping, stalking, and harassing women," Haney said earlier this year. "Despite significant concerns about public safety, conflicting expert evaluations led to his release, and he was later arrested again after allegedly continuing similar behavior."
Haney said AB 1897 requires mental health evaluators to use a proven, evidence-based assessment tool when determining whether someone with a serious mental health disorder continues to pose a danger to others before being released. Evaluators can still use their professional judgment and any additional assessments they believe are necessary, under the law.
"California MDO laws play an important role in protecting the public, but our experience has shown that the current laws pose gaps that can make it difficult to adequately assess the danger posed by some offenders," said Chief Deputy District Attorney Ivy Fitzpatrick, legislative representative for the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.
District Attorney's Office officials expressed gratitude to Haney and Newsom for advancing and enacting the legislation into state law.
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