A new law in Florida aims to divert people experiencing mental health problems from the criminal justice system to get treatment instead.
The legislation (SB 168), called the Tristin Murphy act, was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis at a media event in Tampa on Wednesday. The bill’s namesake died by suicide in 2021 at a state prison work program while experiencing a mental health episode.
DeSantis hopes the law will help others in a similar situation.
“A lot of people that interact with the justice system, the root cause is not that they're bad people trying to harm others, it's that they've got a lot of mental health problems that are leading to behavior that is anti-social,” DeSantis said.
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Another bill signed by the governor will carry out a series of recommendations from Florida’s Commission on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder. The law (SB 1620) also establishes the Center for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Research at the University of South Florida in Tampa. The center will be named after state Sen. Darryl Rouson, the bill's sponsor.
The Tristin Murphy Act requires the Florida Department of Corrections to evaluate the physical and mental health of each inmate eligible for work assignments before approving eligibility. It also allows people to be screened within 24 hours of being detained by law enforcement for a crime so they can be diverted to mental health care if neededinstead of prison.
“We talk about a lot of issues in Tallahassee, but mental health is a messy issue. It's a difficult issue, and it's an issue that oftentimes is hard to move the ball meaningfully because it takes a lot of resources,” said Fleming Island Republican Sen. Jennifer Bradley, the bill’s sponsor.
Other elements of the bill, like a provision for more training on when to send mental health units instead of law enforcement, will help connect people and their families with resources sooner, she said.
“It's not just the person with the mental illness, it's the family behind them that struggles to get them the resources to try to keep them out of the deep end of the criminal justice system, which is exactly what happened to Tristan Murphy, with tragic consequences,” Bradley said.
The bill also establishes the Florida Behavioral Health Data Repository at Florida State University. It is meant to collect and analyze statewide behavioral health care data in the state to help improve care.
