preliminarily qualified offender
(9) Preliminarily qualified offender (A) In general The term “preliminarily qualified offender” means an adult or juvenile accused of an offense who— (i) (I) previously or currently has been diagnosed by a qualified mental health professional as having a mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse disorders; (II) manifests obvious signs of mental illness or co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse disorders during arrest or confinement or before any court; or (III) in the case of a veterans treatment court provided under subsection (i), has been diagnosed with, or manifests obvious signs of, mental illness or a substance abuse disorder or co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse disorder; (ii) has been unanimously approved for participation in a program funded under this section by, when appropriate— (I) the relevant— (aa) prosecuting attorney; (bb) defense attorney; (cc) probation or corrections official; and (dd) judge; and (II) a representative from the relevant mental health agency described in subsection (b)(5)(B)(i); (iii) has been determined, by each person described in clause (ii) who is involved in approving the adult or juvenile for participation in a program funded under this section, to not pose a risk of violence to any person in the program, or the public, if selected to participate in the program; and (iv) has not been charged with or convicted of— (I) any sex offense (as defined in section 20911 of this title ) or any offense relating to the sexual exploitation of children; or (II) murder or assault with intent to commit murder. (B) Determination In determining whether to designate a defendant as a preliminarily qualified offender, the relevant prosecuting attorney, defense attorney, probation or corrections official, judge, and mental health or substance abuse agency representative shall take into account— (i) whether the participation of the defendant in the program would pose a substantial risk of violence to the community; (ii) the criminal history of the defendant and the nature and severity of the offense for which the defendant is charged; (iii) the views of any relevant victims to the offense; (iv) the extent to which the defendant would benefit from participation in the program; (v) the extent to which the community would realize cost savings because of the defendant’s participation in the program; and (vi) whether the defendant satisfies the eligibility criteria for program participation unanimously established by the relevant prosecuting attorney, defense attorney, probation or corrections official, judge and mental health or substance abuse agency representative.