---
title: HB 19. Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, Department of; create and maintain electronic inpatient psychiatric bed registry; require
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb19
cite_as: HB 19, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb19
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb19.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb19/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69299
date: 2025-02-11
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 189
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb19.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 19
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-01-13
last_action: House Withdrawn Bill/Res Consideration
sponsors:
- Sandra Scott
- Kim Schofield
- Viola Davis
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB19/2025
upstream_id: 1916768
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- mental health care
- psychiatric hospital beds
- health data registry
- behavioral health department
- crisis response
---
# HB 19. Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, Department of; create and maintain electronic inpatient psychiatric bed registry; require
## Text
House Bill 19
By: Representatives Scott of the 76th, Schofield of the 63rd, and Davis of the 87th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 1 of Chapter 3 of Title 37 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to general provisions related to examination and treatment for mental illness, so as
to require the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to create,
operate, and maintain an electronic registry for inpatient psychiatric beds; to provide for
definitions; to provide for contracting with a third party; to require psychiatric facilities and
other providers to submit certain information to the department; to provide for accessibility
to the registry to end users; to provide for an advisory committee; to provide for quarterly
reporting to certain legislative committees; to authorize the department to establish a policy
for secondary use of registry data; to require the department to provide for registry data to
the contractor or entity that operates the Georgia Crisis and Access Line; to provide a short
title; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Mental Health Availability and Access
Act."
SECTION 2.
Article 1 of Chapter 3 of Title 37 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
general provisions related to examination and treatment for mental illness, is amended by
adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"37-3-9.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Advisory committee' means the committee established pursuant to subsection (e) of
this Code section.
(2) 'Psychiatric facility' shall have the same meaning as 'facility' as defined in
paragraph (7) of Code Section 37-3-1.
(3) 'Registry' means the electronic inpatient psychiatric bed registry created pursuant to
subsection (b) of this Code section.
(b)(1) The department shall establish and administer an electronic inpatient psychiatric
bed registry. The registry shall be a web based resource to identify available psychiatric
beds in this state categorized by patient gender, acuteness, age, and diagnosis. The
registry shall be accessible through the department's website.
(2) The department may, by contract, delegate the creation, operation, and maintenance
of the registry to a private entity.
(c) Psychiatric facilities and other providers identified by the department, who provide
diagnosis, care, treatment, or hospitalization of persons who are mentally ill, shall be
required to provide the department with the number of inpatient psychiatric beds available
in such facilities or by such other providers at the time the information is provided. The
information shall be provided by psychiatric facilities and such other providers on a basis
as close to real time as practicable. Psychiatric facilities and other providers shall provide
the department with such information as specified under subsection (f) of this Code section.
(d) The registry shall be made accessible to end users of the registry, including, but not
limited to, prepaid inpatient health plans, licensed health plans, community mental health
services programs, acute care hospitals, psychiatric facilities, and employees and caregivers
with other appropriate providers.
(e) The department shall establish an advisory committee to provide guidance on the
creation, operation, and maintenance of the registry. The advisory committee shall include
representatives from the following groups:
(1) The department;
(2) The Department of Community Health;
(3) Psychiatric facilities;
(4) End users of the registry as described in subsection (d) of this Code section;
(5) Consumers, families, and advocates; and
(6) Law enforcement.
(f) The department, in consultation with the advisory committee, shall establish
requirements for reporting information to the department for psychiatric facilities and other
providers identified by the department.
(g) The department shall provide quarterly reports on the progress of implementing the
registry beginning on October 1, 2025, to the chairpersons of the House Committee on
Health, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, the House Appropriations
Health Subcommittee, and the Senate Appropriations Health and Human Development
Subcommittee.
(h) The department, in consultation with the advisory committee, may establish a policy
for the secondary use of registry data.
(i) The department shall provide all of the information listed on the registry created
pursuant to this Code section to the contractor or entity that operates or maintains the
Georgia Crisis and Access Line."
SECTION 3.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
House Bill 19 would require Georgia's Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to build a statewide electronic registry showing which inpatient psychiatric beds are open in real time, so hospitals, health plans, and crisis responders can find care faster.
### Plain-language summary
Right now Georgia has no central, real-time way to see which psychiatric hospital beds are open across the state, which can slow down placing someone in crisis. House Bill 19, called the "Mental Health Availability and Access Act," would require the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to create and run a web-based registry listing available inpatient psychiatric beds, sorted by patient gender, age, acuteness of illness, and diagnosis.
Psychiatric facilities and other providers the department identifies would have to report their open bed counts as close to real time as possible. The registry would be accessible to health plans, hospitals, and caregivers, and the department could hire a private contractor to run it. An advisory committee with representatives from the department, hospitals, law enforcement, and families would help set reporting rules. The department must send quarterly progress reports to four legislative health committees starting October 1, 2025, and must share registry data with the operator of the Georgia Crisis and Access Line.
### What it does
- Requires the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to build and run a statewide electronic registry of open inpatient psychiatric beds.
- Requires psychiatric facilities and other designated providers to report bed availability to the department on a near real-time basis.
- Allows the department to hire a private company to create, operate, or maintain the registry instead of doing it in-house.
- Creates an advisory committee with members from the department, hospitals, law enforcement, and families to guide the registry's rules.
- Requires quarterly progress reports to four House and Senate health committees starting October 1, 2025.
- Requires the department to share all registry data with whoever operates the Georgia Crisis and Access Line.
### Who it affects
Psychiatric hospitals and other mental health providers, who must report bed availability; health plans and community mental health programs, who would gain access to the registry; families and caregivers seeking psychiatric care; law enforcement involved in mental health crises; and the state department that must build and run the system.
### Why it matters
Families, hospitals, and crisis responders trying to find an open psychiatric bed for someone in a mental health emergency would have a single, near real-time source to check instead of calling facilities individually, which could speed up placement decisions during a crisis.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 names the bill the 'Mental Health Availability and Access Act.'
- Section 2 adds new Code Section 37-3-9, directing the department to build a web-based registry tracking beds by gender, acuteness, age, and diagnosis, accessible on the department's website.
- Subsection (b)(2) lets the department contract with a private entity to create, operate, or maintain the registry.
- Subsection (c) requires psychiatric facilities and identified providers to report bed availability to the department as close to real time as practicable.
- Subsection (d) lists who can access the registry, including health plans, hospitals, community mental health programs, and caregivers.
- Subsection (e) creates an advisory committee with representatives from the department, the Department of Community Health, psychiatric facilities, end users, families and advocates, and law enforcement.
- Subsection (g) requires quarterly reports on registry progress starting October 1, 2025, to specified House and Senate health committees.
- Subsection (i) requires the department to give all registry data to the entity operating the Georgia Crisis and Access Line.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-01-13)
- Last action: House Withdrawn Bill/Res Consideration (2025-02-11)
- Sponsors: Sandra Scott, Kim Schofield, Viola Davis
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69299
> The history, votes, and amendments (189 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb19.md?full=1