Mental Illness - As enacted, requires the state to pay the cost of a court-ordered mental health evaluation and treatment for criminal defendants who have been charged with a misdemeanor and are believed to be incompetent to stand trial or for whom there is a question about mental capacity at the time of the offense. - Amends TCA Title 33; Title 39 and Title 40.

This bill requires the state of Tennessee to cover the costs of court-ordered mental health evaluations and treatment for criminal defendants charged with misdemeanors who are suspected of being mentally incompetent. The law allows judges to order defendants to pay for these services only if they are found to have the financial ability to do so, with payments directed to the court clerk for processing. Additionally, the bill mandates that any inpatient mental health evaluations for these misdemeanor defendants must be completed within thirty days of admission to the facility. These changes take effect on July 1, 2024, and modify existing statutes in the Tennessee Code Annotated.