§ 33-6-805 — Post-plea treatment system

(a) The department of mental health and substance abuse services, in cooperation with the department of correction, the department of human services and the district attorneys general conference, shall develop a post-plea treatment system for sexual offenders, victims, and their families, modeled after systems that are operating in some local communities around the country. The system shall provide for a standard fee for treatment services and shall provide for the development of a certification process for service providers to assure sexual abuse treatment expertise by the service providers. The certification should encompass a combination of professional education and licensure with specialized knowledge in this field. The treatment system shall be designed within a conceptual framework that includes, but is not limited to, the following: (1) Limiting offender eligibility to first-offender, intra-family abuse, absence of violence or threat of violence, sexual abuse of short duration, absence of drug or alcohol addiction, and abuse that has resulted in no significant trauma to the child victim; (2) The sentence and probation established for program participants shall be a definite sentence; and (3) As a requirement for participation in the treatment program, the offender shall plead guilty to the commission of the appropriate sexual offense and agree to abide by all requirements of the probation agreement or sentence alternative. (b) The probation agreement or sentence alternative shall require that the offender pay for the victim's medical and psychological treatment, as needed, and for the offender's treatment in the treatment program, based upon the offender's financial ability to pay.

Legislative History

Acts 1985, ch. 478, § 37; 1987, ch. 145, § 26; 1988, ch. 953, § 8; T.C.A., §33-6-306; Acts 2000, ch. 947, §§ 1, 6; 2010, ch. 1100, § 45; 2012, ch. 575, § 1.