Tenn. Code Ann. § 52-5-404 (2026)

• (a) A person may be judicially committed to involuntary care and treatment in the custody of the commissioner in proceedings conducted in conformity with chapter 3, part 5 of this title only if:
  • (1) The person has an intellectual disability;
  • (2) The person poses a substantial likelihood of serious harm under § 52-5-402 because of the intellectual disability;
  • (3) The person needs care, training, or treatment because of the intellectual disability;
  • (4) All available less drastic alternatives to judicial commitment are unsuitable to meet the needs of the person; and
  • (5) The district attorney general files a complaint to require involuntary care and treatment under § 52-5-403.

• (b)
  • (1) There is a rebuttable presumption that a person meets the standards in subdivisions (a)(1)-(4) for judicial commitment if the person was charged with a felony or Class A misdemeanor and found by a court to be incompetent to stand trial for the offense due to an intellectual disability; and
  • (2) The presumption established by subdivision (b)(1) may only be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence that the person does not pose a substantial likelihood of serious harm.

• (c) Notwithstanding subsection (a), the district attorney general is not required to file a complaint to require involuntary care and treatment for a person who is found incompetent to stand trial due to intellectual disability in order to commit the person pursuant to this section. If a person is declared incompetent to stand trial for a criminal offense based on intellectual disability, then the court must determine whether the person is subject to involuntary care and treatment at the hearing in which the person is declared incompetent; provided, that two (2) certificates of need have been submitted to the court in accordance with this chapter. If no such certificates of need have been submitted prior to the hearing in which the person is declared incompetent, then the court shall direct the department to conduct an evaluation to determine if the person meets the criteria for involuntary care and treatment as set forth in subsection (a). If the court subsequently receives two (2) certificates of need in accordance with this chapter, then the court shall conduct a hearing to determine if the person must be committed to the custody of the department.

Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 1031,s 2, eff. 5/28/2024.

Amended by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 1031,s 1, eff. 5/28/2024.

Added by 2024 Tenn. Acts, ch. 688,s 2, eff. 7/1/2024.