{"id":487,"date":"2026-06-17T21:35:40","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T21:35:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=487"},"modified":"2026-06-17T21:35:40","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T21:35:40","slug":"nc-senators-advance-bill-shifting-involuntary-commitment-evaluations-to-jails","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=487","title":{"rendered":"NC senators advance bill shifting involuntary commitment evaluations to jails"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A key North Carolina state senate panel approved a bill Wednesday aiming to fix a problem lawmakers inadvertently caused by changing public safety laws in the wake of the 2025 killing of Iryna Zarutska by a person with mental illness.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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In the fall, the legislature <\/span>approved<\/span> \u201cIryna\u2019s Law,\u201d a judicial reform package keeping more suspects in custody before their trials and requiring more of them to be taken to hospitals for psychiatric assessments and potential involuntary commitment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But concerns from stakeholders plagued lawmakers. Hospital leaders were worried about the safety of patients and staff when suspects are evaluated in emergency rooms, saying they\u2019d prefer those assessments take place in jail.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bill sponsor Rep. Timothy Reeder (R-Pitt), a physician, told the Senate Health Care Committee Wednesday that <\/span>House Bill 1104<\/span> would allow those evaluations to take place in jails instead. He said it isn\u2019t a fix for the shortcomings of the state\u2019s mental health system, but it\u2019s a step forward.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reeder said he still works in the emergency department.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI worked there last Friday, and we had no fewer than 30 psychiatric patients in our emergency department,\u201d he said. \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t want someone who has a violent history sitting next to your child who\u2019s getting treated for an ear infection.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sen. Natalie Murdock (D-Durham) said she went to the emergency room twice in the past six months.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Law enforcement officials are there almost on a daily basis dealing with \u201call sorts of issues,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFrom my own experience I was concerned about the safety of staff, and could clearly tell some of the issues were mental, which is why they were brought there,\u201d Murdock said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

About 40% of the evaluations for involuntary commitment in emergency departments are already conducted through telehealth, according to Reeder.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to be using telehealth for the evaluations in jails, which is the primary component of this bill,\u201d Reeder said Wednesday. \u201cWe believe that the jails are the appropriate place to do this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He said mobile crisis teams \u2014\u00a0trained behavioral health specialists who travel directly to individuals experiencing a mental health emergency \u2014\u00a0can be used if telehealth isn\u2019t available.<\/span><\/p>\n

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NC lawmakers weigh changes to involuntary commitment, guardianship under Iryna\u2019s Law<\/p>\n

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