Oklahoma will track staffed behavioral health openings if funded

Starting November 1, 2026, the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services must establish and maintain a secure statewide registry if funding is available. The registry covers staffed, operating treatment openings at licensed or certified facilities other than hospitals, for emergency detention, protective custody, assessment, and court-ordered competency evaluations or restoration. The registry must include a separate section for court-ordered competency evaluations and treatment to restore competency. Within six months after the law takes effect, the department must seek proposals for the registry if funding is available. It may spend state funds on software only if no compliant no-cost proposal is available after competitive bidding. The department must seek proposals within six months after November 1, 2026, if funding is available.

Covered facilities must report capacity and openings, update information, and respond to placement requests under rules set by the Board. These duties apply to covered facilities, which exclude hospitals and hospital-based psychiatric units. Facilities must apply written admission and exclusion rules consistently and without discrimination. A facility may refuse an otherwise appropriate person for documented clinical or safety reasons. It must honor a confirmed reservation for the period set by rule unless clinical information changes or the person no longer meets its written admission criteria or meets its exclusion criteria. Facilities must update information when availability materially changes and at intervals set by rule. They must respond within the period set by rule.

Hospitals and hospital-based psychiatric units may choose to report openings, accept placement requests, or do both. The opt-in choice applies to hospitals and hospital-based psychiatric units. Participation is voluntary unless a contract or federal law requires it. A placement request does not mean the hospital has accepted the patient, agreed to a transfer, or entered a transfer agreement. Hospitals remain subject to federal emergency-care duties.