---
kind: "section"
citation: "34 U.S.C. § 10472"
title: "34"
title_heading: "Crime Control and Law Enforcement"
number: "10472"
heading: "Definitions"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/34/10472"
units:
  - "Subtitle I — Comprehensive Acts"
  - "Chapter 101 — Justice System Improvement"
  - "Subchapter XXI — Mental Health Courts"
---

# §10472. Definitions


In this subchapter—

- (1) the term “mental illness” means a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder—
  - (A) of sufficient duration to meet diagnostic criteria within the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association; and
  - (B) that has resulted in functional impairment that substantially interferes with or limits 1 or more major life activities;
- (2) the term “preliminarily qualified offender with mental illness, mental retardation, or co-occurring mental and substance abuse disorders” means a person who—
  - (A)
    - (i) previously or currently has been diagnosed by a qualified mental health professional as having a [mental illness](#1), mental retardation, or co-occurring [mental illness](#1) and substance abuse disorders; or
    - (ii) manifests obvious signs of [mental illness](#1), mental retardation, or co-occurring [mental illness](#1) and substance abuse disorders during arrest or confinement or before any court; and
  - (B) is deemed eligible by designated judges;
- (3) the term “court-ordered assisted outpatient treatment” means a program through which a court may order a [treatment](/usc/34/11103.md?p=15) plan for an [eligible patient](#4) that—
  - (A) requires such patient to obtain outpatient mental health [treatment](/usc/34/11103.md?p=15) while the patient is not currently residing in a correctional facility or inpatient [treatment](/usc/34/11103.md?p=15) facility; and
  - (B) is designed to improve access and adherence by such patient to intensive behavioral health [services](/usc/34/12291.md?p=a-51) in order to—
    - (i) avert relapse, repeated hospitalizations, arrest, incarceration, suicide, property destruction, and violent behavior; and
    - (ii) provide such patient with the opportunity to live in a less restrictive alternative to incarceration or involuntary hospitalization; and
- (4) the term “eligible patient” means an adult, mentally ill person who, as determined by a court—
  - (A) has a history of violence, incarceration, or medically unnecessary hospitalizations;
  - (B) without supervision and [treatment](/usc/34/11103.md?p=15), may be a danger to self or others in the community;
  - (C) is substantially unlikely to voluntarily participate in [treatment](/usc/34/11103.md?p=15);
  - (D) may be unable, for reasons other than indigence, to provide for any of his or her basic needs, such as food, clothing, shelter, health, or safety;
  - (E) has a history of [mental illness](#1) or a condition that is likely to substantially deteriorate if the person is not provided with timely [treatment](/usc/34/11103.md?p=15); or
  - (F) due to [mental illness](#1), lacks capacity to fully understand or lacks judgment to make informed decisions regarding his or her need for [treatment](/usc/34/11103.md?p=15), care, or supervision.

## Source credit

(Pub. L. 90–351, title I, § 2202, as added Pub. L. 106–515, § 3(a), Nov. 13, 2000, 114 Stat. 2400; amended Pub. L. 114–255, div. B, title XIV, § 14002(b), Dec. 13, 2016, 130 Stat. 1288.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Codification

Section was formerly classified to section 3796ii–1 of Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare, prior to editorial reclassification and renumbering as this section.

### Prior Provisions

A prior section 2202 of title I of Pub. L. 90–351, as added Pub. L. 103–322, title V, § 50001(a)(3), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 1956, related to prohibition of participation by violent offenders, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 104–134, title I, § 101[(a)] [title I, § 114(b)(1)(A)], Apr. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 1321, 1321–21; renumbered title I, Pub. L. 104–140, § 1(a), May 2, 1996, 110 Stat. 1327.

### Amendments

2016—Pars. (3), (4). Pub. L. 114–255 added pars. (3) and (4).