STATE LAWS AT A GLANCE 

UPDATED!CHART (also available in PDF)
TEXT SUMMARY (also available in PDF)

STATE LAWS IN DETAIL

Mental illness treatment statutes, by state

OTHER LEGAL RESOURCES

Legal articles and case digests
Treatment Advocacy Center Model Law
A guide to New York's Kendra's Law
 A guide to California's Laura's Law  

Whether you're a legislator working to strengthen your state's treatment laws, an attorney representing a person with severe mental illness, or an individual searching for information on a family member's rights under the law, the information on this page can assist you in understanding the complexities of mental illness law and what must be done to strengthen existing statutes. Want more information on being an advocate in your state? Visit our advocates page for tips and ideas.

State laws

Legal standard/requirements for assisted treatment, by state

• A chart of the most essential information about the assisted treatment standard in each state. (Also available in a printer-friendly PDF version.)
• A text summary of statutory assisted treatment standards organized state by state. (Also available in a printer-friendly PDF version.)

Mental illness treatment statutes, by state

• Statutes (Note: Please check your local library for recent revisions to your state's statutes):

  AL	AK	AZ	AR	CA	CO	CT	DE	DC	FL
  GA	HI	ID	IL	IN	IA	KS	KY	LA	ME
  MD	MA	MI	MN	MS	MO	MT	NE	NV	NH
  NJ	NM	NY	NC	ND	OH	OK	OR	PA	RI
  SC	SD	TN	TX	UT	VT	VA	WA	WV	WI
  WY

• Analyses (all states coming soon)

  AL	AK	AZ	AR	CA	CO	CT	DE	DC	FL
  GA	HI	ID	IL	IN	IA	KS	KY	LA	ME
  MD	MA	MI	MN	MS	MO	MT	NE	NV	NH
  NJ	NM	NY	NC	ND	OH	OK	OR	PA	RI
  SC	SD	TN	TX	UT	VT	VA	WA	WV	WI
  WY

Legal articles and case digests

• Legal articles on key issues impacting the legal rights of individuals with severe mental illnesses

• Case digests are summaries of historic judicial decisions about assisted treatment.

Model law for assisted treatment

• Model law for assisted treatment. A compilation of the most effective provisions of existing state treatment laws, the Treatment Advocacy Center's Model Law is designed to be the legal framework for the provision of care for individuals, who due to the symptoms of untreated severe mental illness, become either dangerous or in need of treatment and incapable of making rational medical decisions.