Redding, Calif. – Shasta County District Attorney Stephanie A. Bridget is urging California lawmakers to pass Assembly Bill 46, calling it a necessary fix to the state’s mental health diversion system, which she says has left courts with too little authority to protect public safety.
Bridget announced that she is joining the California District Attorneys Association to join the state push for legislation to pass AB 46, which would close what she calls legal loopholes in California’s mental health diversion law by restoring judicial discretion and ensuring that the program provides treatment while protecting the community.
A recent Shasta County case was cited as an example of why prosecutors want judges to have more authority over diversion decisions. In that case, a defendant described as a parolee with two assaults and a lengthy criminal history was placed in a mental health facility in May 2025 after breaking into a home where a 16-year-old female victim was inside. The accused then threatened the victim’s life and threw a rock the size of a softball at her feet.
Since being placed in a mental health facility, the defendant has been charged in three new cases, including two felony cases in 2025 and a misdemeanor case in 2026. two counts of receiving a stolen motor vehicle with a prior; Resisting, delaying or obstructing a public officer, peace officer or emergency medical technician; following a peace officer’s vehicle while driving recklessly; Possession, manufacture, alteration or repair of theft devices; recklessly setting fire to a residential structure; possession of flammable materials; attempted arson; Vandalism under $400; possession or purchase of tear gas after conviction for a felony; assault or misuse of tear gas; possession of a controlled substance; and having an injection/injection device.
The defendant’s behavior was explained specifically because of his criminal history, prosecutors said, because he repeatedly proved an ongoing threat to public safety and failed to use the program as designed.
Mental health diversion, created under Penal Code 1001.36, was intended to divert people with mental illness into treatment rather than incarceration. But Bridget’s office said recent court orders and legal restrictions have significantly limited judges’ ability to deny diversion, even in serious and violent cases, limiting courts’ authority to evaluate whether diversion is appropriate.
Under current law, prosecutors say that once a defendant meets certain legal criteria, judges have very limited discretion to deny diversion. Courts have also been forced to grant diversion in cases where there is no clear treatment plan, where community safety is at risk, or where plaintiffs have failed prior treatment efforts because of the way the law has been written and interpreted by appellate courts.
Prosecutors also raised concerns about what happens after diversion is completed, saying that once a defendant completes mental health diversion, the offense is removed from the defendant’s criminal history, “removing accountability for dangerous crimes as if the crime had never been committed” and putting victims, law enforcement and communities at risk if the program is not implemented properly.
AB 46 would allow courts to consider whether a defendant poses a substantial and unreasonable risk to the physical safety of another person and whether a proposed treatment plan is clinically appropriate to address the mental health condition that contributed to the crime.
“Mental health diversion should not be used as an escape for dangerous criminals to avoid accountability,” Bridget said. “Assembly Bill 46 closes legal loopholes and empowers judges to better evaluate mental health treatment plans, ensuring they address the root causes of criminal behavior while protecting public safety.”
AB 46 will be heard in the Senate Public Safety Committee on March 17. The public can watch the hearing at 8:30 a.m. at https://spsf.senate.ca.gov/committeehome.
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