Sacramento County is joining a statewide program that allows judges to order people to receive mental health treatment.
More than a dozen other California counties already enforce the policy known as Laura's Law, in reference to the killing of Laura Wilcox in 2001 by a man with an untreated severe mental illness. According to CalMatters, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to implement Laura’s Law, becoming the 21st county to do so.
Laura's Law allows people who have been jailed, hospitalized for psychiatric care, or made-threats-of or committed-acts-of violence to be assigned court-ordered outpatient mental health treatment. The person would first be offered voluntary treatment for ten days before qualifying for Laura's Law.