A state legislative bill that would require judges in certain cases to consider a defendant’s mental health during sentencing was approved by the Legislature this week and is headed for Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk.

The bill, AB 154, would require judges to make a recommendation to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that a convicted felon receive a mental health evaluation if mental illness played a role in the crime. North Coast Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, author of the bill, said he hopes those evaluations will lead to more treatment for prisoners who need it.

Last year, there were about 30,000 state prison inmates with some form of mental illness, ranging from mild depression to schizophrenia, said Randall Hagar, a spokesman for the California Psychiatric Association.

That represents about 25 percent of the state’s total prison population.

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