---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE, DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES AND HOSPITALS - MENTAL HEALTH LAW (Articulates the role of police officers in obtaining treatment for those showing symptoms of mental illness.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE, DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES AND HOSPITALS - MENTAL HEALTH LAW (Articulates the role of police officers in obtaining treatment for those showing symptoms of mental illness.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "HB 5945"
citation: "Rhode Island HB 5945 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Mental Health", "Health & Safety", "Police & Fire", "Behavioral Healthcare", "Handicapped"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Almeida", "Canario", "Jacquard", "McKiernan", "Ruggiero"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 17
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2017-03-17"
last_action: "2017-10-05"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/65a85019-42f7-4bb1-a833-7e875713880a"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "8d5467e12941bbd2e059e7460d599d1fe3fc9c8e82122fb1d9686349e486c67d"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island HB 5945 (2017) — AN ACT RELATING TO BEHAVIORAL HEALTHCARE, DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES AND HOSPITALS - MENTAL HEALTH LAW (Articulates the role of police officers in obtaining treatment for those showing symptoms of mental illness.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **5945 SUB A** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText17/HouseText17/H5945A.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **69–2** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Almeida — primary (person)
- Canario — primary (person)
- Jacquard — primary (person)
- McKiernan — primary (person)
- Ruggiero — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-03-17** 03/17/2017 Introduced, referred to House H.E.W. `referral-committee, introduction`
- **2017-03-31** 03/31/2017 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (04/05/2017)
- **2017-04-05** 04/05/2017 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
- **2017-05-26** 05/26/2017 Scheduled for consideration (05/31/2017)
- **2017-05-31** 05/31/2017 Committee recommends passage of Sub A `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-06-02** 06/02/2017 Placed on House Calendar (06/08/2017)
- **2017-06-08** 06/08/2017 House passed Sub A `passage`
- **2017-06-08** 06/08/2017 Referred to Senate Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2017-06-23** 06/23/2017 Scheduled for hearing (06/27/2017)
- **2017-06-27** 06/27/2017 Committee heard
- **2017-06-27** 06/27/2017 Scheduled for consideration (06/29/2017)
- **2017-06-29** 06/29/2017 Committee recommends passage of Sub A in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-06-29** 06/29/2017 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/30/2017)
- **2017-09-18** 09/18/2017 Placed on the Senate Consent Calendar (09/19/2017)
- **2017-09-19** 09/19/2017 Senate passed Sub A in concurrence `passage`
- **2017-10-03** 10/03/2017 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2017-10-05** 10/05/2017 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/65a85019-42f7-4bb1-a833-7e875713880a`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).