Idaho Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, listens to action on the Senate floor at the State Capitol building in Boise on Jan. 9, 2023. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Capital Sun)
A bill is headed to the Idaho Senate floor that would let Idaho law enforcement officers temporarily detain people who are dangerous to themselves or others because of neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s.
The bill, Senate Bill 1247 , addresses a gap in Idaho law that doesn’t let police detain people for neurological crises, but allows for 72-hour mental health holds, said Rep. Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, who presented the bill that’s co-sponsored by committee members.
Wintrow said many Idahoans are detained under the mental health hold, even though they have neurological conditions.
The bill outlines a process for a 24-hour hold for people with neurological conditions who are “likely to injure themselves or others.”
“We do not want to detain people any longer than necessary because it is not mental illness,” Wintrow said.