A bill that would expand the duty of mental health providers to inform police of patient-made threats to harm others is making its way through the Legislature.
Current law provides civil immunity and requires a duty to notify on the part of therapists whose patients tell them that they are thinking of harming a specific person. House Bill 1271 would expand that immunity and requirement to include threats against a location or entity.
The bill is a response to the 2012 Aurora theater shooting. In that case, officials were unclear as to whether the therapist who was treating shooting suspect James Holmes would have had a duty to notify law enforcement of any threats he might have made in relation to the shooting.
The bill — which is sponsored by Rep. Jovan Melton, D-Aurora, and Sen. Linda Newell, D-Littleton — passed through both legislative chambers unanimously, most recently in the Senate on March 26.
