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State Legislation Related to CIT

At present, there are no state laws mandating CIT. However, a few states have taken legislative steps to support CIT or other specialized police training.

Kentucky (2007)

Read the text of the law.

The Kentucky law defines CIT as a best practice for police interventions with people who may have serious mental illness, developmental disability, mental retardation, substance abuse disorders, or dual diagnosis. The law lays out specific requirements for police training, including: number of hours required; topics covered; and composition of the training team.  It requires the state Department for Mental Health and Mental Retardation to draft a curriculum, and the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council to facilitate making the training available to police departments. It also requires departments with CIT trained officers to report on the outcomes of the training. This law does not mandate that law enforcement agencies implement CIT; rather it establishes guidelines if communities decide to adopt CIT.

Texas (2005)

Read the text of the law and an analysis. 

This law requires veteran officers to complete a training program in de-escalation and crisis intervention techniques.  (A 16-hour de-escalation training was previously required in the training for new officers). Officers typically have 2 years to complete the training. The course requirements cannot be met by taking an online course. While this is a step in the right direction, we do not consider this a CIT program, because it is not a comprehensive 40 hour training, and does not require community partnerships between law enforcement, mental health providers and family and consumer advocates to respond to local needs.

Florida (2007)

Read the text of the law.

This law creates a criminal justice mental health grant program to be administered by the Florida Department of Children and Family Services, called the Criminal Justice, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Reinvestment Grant Program. The grant program provides funding to counties for planning, implementing and expanding initiatives to increase public safety, decrease criminal justice spending, and improve accessibility and quality of treatment for individuals who have mental illnesses or substance abuse disorders and are involved, or are at risk of being involved, with the criminal justice system. The bill also establishes a statewide grant review committee, and specifies requirements for membership in the committee; specifies who can apply for grants, and establishes some requirements for applications. Grants can fund projects including, but not limited to, mental health courts, diversion programs, CIT and reentry services.

Georgia (2008)

Read the text of the resolution.

The Georgia Senate passed S. Res. 924, a resolution recognizing and commending the Georgia Crisis Intervention Team.

Does your state have legislation relating to CIT? Let us know by contacting Laura Usher -- laurau@nami.org We will be happy to post it here.

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