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 Bill Text - AB-2259 Prisons: mental health.

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 |Add To My Favorites |Track Bill | Version: 02/19/26 - Introduced

 AB-2259 Prisons: mental health.(2025-2026)

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 Date Published: 02/19/2026 09:00 PM

AB2259:v99#DOCUMENTBill Start

 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

 Assembly Bill

No. 2259

Introduced by Assembly Member Ransom

February 19, 2026

 An act to add and repeal Section 2693 of the Penal Code, relating to prisons. 

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2259, as introduced, Ransom.
 Prisons: mental health.

Existing law authorizes the Secretary of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to establish and maintain classes for incarcerated persons utilizing institutional personnel or entering into an agreement with the governing board of a school district or private school. Existing law requires the department to develop and implement a plan to obtain additional rehabilitation and treatment services for incarcerated persons and parolees. Existing law requires that plan to include, among other things, filling vacant state staff positions that provide direct and indirect rehabilitation services, or obtaining services from local governments and contractors to assist with treatment for parolees and incarcerated persons.

This bill would require the department to establish a 3-year pilot program at 2 institutions that would provide access to
 specified mental health therapy for certain incarcerated persons not classified by the department to receive mental health treatment from the institution. The bill would require communications during therapy sessions, as specified, between the incarcerated person and assigned therapist to be confidential. The bill would require the California Correctional Health Care Services to be the custodian of records for treatment records generated under this pilot program. The bill would require the department to report certain information to the fiscal and appropriate policy committees of the Legislature, from March 1, 2028, to March 1, 2031.

The bill would make related findings and declarations.

Digest Key

 Vote:
 MAJORITY 
 Appropriation:
 NO 
 Fiscal Committee:
 YES 
 Local Program:
 NO 

Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) Rehabilitation is an essential function of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

(b) The primary function of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s Statewide Mental Health Program is to ensure patients have ready access to mental health services based on their need.

(c) Mental health therapy contributes to personal growth, reflection, and preparation for safe and successful postincarceration reentry and helps foster a safer environment for staff and people incarcerated in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

(d) Mental health therapy can be provided by an array of licensed professionals or registered mental health providers, including marriage and family therapists, psychologists, and professional clinical counselors.

(e) To that end, access to mental health therapy should be available to all people incarcerated in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, regardless of their security level or length of sentence, without requiring a pre-existing mental health diagnosis.

(f) The department has implemented a successful telepsychiatry program that has improved access to mental health care services and reduced staffing shortages. The utilization of telehealth technologies for a broader population will provide for a greater variety of options for incarcerated people to meet with mental health providers and receive
 care.

(g) This pilot intends to support continuity of care for justice-involved individuals connecting them to community-based providers prior to release and supporting individuals’ ability to remain under the care of that connected provider. The pilot would be consistent with the goals of the State of California’s Medi-Cal justice-involved initiatives to the extent permitted by federal law.

SEC. 2.

 Section 2693 is added to the Penal Code, to read:

2693.

 (a) In order to foster incarcerated peoples’ growth, mental and emotional wellness, and rehabilitation, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shall establish a three-year pilot program at two institutions. The pilot program shall