Department of Health Services

Sacramento County

Behavioral Health Commission Bylaws

Adopted by the Sacramento County Commission of Supervisors – May 20, 2025

ARTICLE I—Commission Name

The name of this Commission shall be the Sacramento County Behavioral Health Commission.

ARTICLE II—Authority

The Behavioral Health Commission is established pursuant to Section 5604 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code.

ARTICLE III—Responsibilities

The responsibilities of this Commission are mandated in the Welfare and Institutions Code Section 5604.2.

The Behavioral Health Commission shall do all of the following:

(1) Review and evaluate the community's public behavioral health needs, services, facilities, and special problems in any facility within the county or jurisdiction where mental health or substance use disorder evaluations or services are being provided, including, but not limited to, schools, emergency departments, and psychiatric facilities.

(2) (A) Review any county agreements entered into pursuant to Section 5650. (B) The local behavioral health commission may make recommendations to the governing body (Sacramento County Board of Supervisors) regarding concerns identified within these agreements.

(3) (A) Advise the Sacramento Board of Supervisors and the local behavioral health director as to any aspect of the local behavioral health program. (B) The Behavioral Health Commission may request assistance from the local patients' rights advocates when reviewing and advising on mental health or substance use disorder evaluations or services provided in public facilities with limited access.

(4) (A)  Review and approve the procedures used to ensure citizen and professional involvement at all stages of the planning process. (B) Involvement shall include individuals with lived experience of mental illness and substance use disorder, as well as their families, community members, advocacy organizations, and behavioral health professionals. It shall also include other professionals that interact with individuals living with mental illnesses and substance use disorders on a daily basis, such as education, emergency services, employment, health care, law enforcement, local business owners, social services, seniors, transportation, and veterans.

(5)  Submit an annual report to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors on the needs and performance of the County's behavioral health system.

(6) (A)  Review and make recommendations on applicants for the appointment of a local director of behavioral health services. (B) The commission shall be included in the selection process prior to the vote of the governing body.

(7)  Review and comment on the county's performance outcome data and communicate its findings to the California Behavioral Health Planning Council.

(8)    This part does not limit the ability of the governing body to transfer additional duties or authority to the Behavioral Health Commission.

As part of its duties, the Behavioral Health Commission shall assess the impact of the realignment of services from the State to the County on services delivered to the clients and the local community.

ARTICLE IV—Membership

The membership of this Commission and the qualifications of such members shall be as provided Section 5604 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

Section 1  The Behavioral Health Commission shall consist of twenty-two (22) members. One member of the Board shall be a member of the Board of Supervisors.  One member of the Board shall be the Director of the Department of Homeless Services and Housing.  There shall be an equal number of appointees by each member of the Board of Supervisors. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the ability of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors to increase the number of members above 22.  The Behavioral Health Commission may recommend appointees to the Board of Supervisors.  The members of the Behavioral Health Commission should reflect the diversity of the client population in the County. The Board of Supervisors is encouraged to appoint individuals who have experience with, and knowledge of, the behavioral health system, including, but not limited to, representatives of county offices of education, large and small businesses, hospitals, hospital districts, physicians practicing in emergency departments, city police chiefs, county sheriffs, and community and nonprofit service providers.

Section 2  Fifty percent of the Behavioral Health Commission shall be consumers of behavioral health services (mental health and/or substance use disorder services) or the parents, spouses, siblings, or adult children of consumers, who are receiving or have received behavioral health services.

a. At least one of these members shall be an individual who is 25 years of age or younger.

b.  At least 20 percent of the total membership shall be consumers and at least 20 percent shall be families of consumers (parents, spouses, siblings, or adult children of consumers).

Section 3  At least one member of the Behavioral Health Commission shall be a veteran or a veteran advocate. The County should notify its county veterans service officer about vacancies on the Commission.

Section 4  At least one member of the Behavioral Health Commission shall be an employee of a local education agency. The County should notify its county office of education about vacancies on the Commission.

Section 5  The term of each member of the Behavioral Health Commission shall be for three (3) years.  The Board of Supervisors shall, to the extent practicable, equitably stagger the appointments so that approximately one-third (1/3) of the appointments expire each year on December 31st.

Section 6  No member shall serve more than two (2) consecutive three-year appointments, unless the member has been appointed to a partial term, in which case the member may then be appointed to two full three-year terms. As of the date of adoption of these bylaws, any member serving a second three-year appointment shall be terminated at the end of that period of service and a new appointment shall be made. When one (1) year has elapsed following a former member's service on the Commission, of whatever duration that service was, they again become eligible for appointment.

Section 7    Specific conflict of interest provisions are:

Except as provided in the following paragraph, a member of the Behavioral Health Commission or the member's spouse shall not be a full-time or part-time county employee of a county mental health and substance use disorder service, an employee of the State Department of Health Care Services, or an employee of, or a paid member of the governing body of, a mental health or substance use disorder contract agency.

A consumer of behavioral health services who has obtained employment with an employer described in the above paragraph and who holds a position in which the consumer does not have any interest, influence, or authority over any financial or contractual matter concerning the employer may be appointed to the Commission. The member shall abstain from voting on any financial or contractual issue concerning the member's employer that may come before the Commission.

Members of the Commission shall abstain from voting on any issue in which the member has a financial interest as defined in Section 87103 of the Government Code.

Section 8  If it is not possible to secure membership as specified in this section from among persons who reside in the county, the governing body may substitute representatives of the public interest in mental health who are not full-time or part-time employees of the county mental health service, the State Department of Health Care Services, or on the staff of, or a paid member of the governing body of, a behavioral health contract agency. 

ARTICLE V—Attendance        

Section 1    Members are expected to attend all General meetings of this Commission and to participate on at least one (1) Behavioral Health
Commission subcommittee, serve as a Commission liaison to a related advisory board or committee or a Division of Behavioral Health Services task force. A member who is unable to attend a given meeting shall give advance notice of their inability to attend to the Commission Chairperson or to the Administrative Office of the Sacramento County Division of Behavioral Health Services.

Section 2    A member who is absent from three (3) Behavioral Health Commission General Meetings per calendar year period shall be deemed to have automatically resigned from the Commission. In such event, the member's status will be noted at the next scheduled Commission meeting and shall be recorded in the Commission's minutes. The Chairperson shall, without further direction from the Commission, apprise the Board of Supervisors of the member's resignation and request the appointment of a replacement. 

Section 3  The Chairperson may grant a Commission member a leave of absence, not to exceed four (4) consecutive General monthly Commission meetings. A leave of absence may only be granted when the affected Commission member requests it. To grant such a leave, the Chairperson shall announce it at a Commission meeting. The leave may become effective at the meeting at which it is announced. The leave waives the limitation of absences stated in Section 2 of this article.

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ARTICLE VI—Meetings

Section 1    The General Meetings of this Commission shall be held on a monthly basis, at a consistent hour, day, and place as determined by the Commission. Public notification of the General Meetings shall be posted at least seventy-two (72) hours prior to the meeting.

Section 2    Special meetings may be called by the Chairperson or a majority of the Commission members. Public notification of special meetings shall be posted at least twenty-four (24) hours in advance of the meeting.

Section 3    All Commission and committee meetings shall be open to the public and subject to The Brown Act (Government Code section 54950 et seq.) except ad hoc or temporary advisory committees, comprised of less than a majority of the Commission members, established for a limited duration, not to exceed one year in length, to perform a specific function, shall be exempt from the requirements of the Brown Act. 

Section 4    There shall be a staff person designated as liaison to the Behavioral Health Commission and its committees. The liaison will be chosen by the Behavioral Health Services Director. This person shall be responsible for all administrative matters regarding the operation of the Behavioral Health Commission. These duties shall include, but not be limited to: Generate and maintain the minutes, preparing and posting Behavioral Health Commission and committee meeting agendas of the Behavioral Health Commission, keeping track of attendance, and being the contact person for matters concerning the Behavioral Health Commission. These duties may be changed as necessary to provide proper liaison between the Behavioral Health Commission and Behavioral Health Services' staff.

ARTICLE VII—Officers

Section 1    The officers of the Commission shall be a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson, and a Public Information Secretary. In the absence of all officers, the Chairperson will designate an acting Chairperson.

Section 2    At the General Meeting in November, the Commission shall elect members to these three (3) offices by majority vote. Nominations shall be made from the floor. The term of office is to begin the first meeting of the next calendar year.

Section 3    The officers shall be elected to serve for one (1) calendar year or until their successors are selected.

Section 4    Officers may be removed from office by a majority vote of the full Commission membership.

Section 5    Vacancies occurring in offices between elections shall be filled by the Commission at its next meeting.

Section 6    The duties of the Chairperson include, but are not limited to:

1. Preside at all meetings of the Behavioral Health Commission
2. Decide all points of order. Unless two-thirds of those present vote to the contrary, the Chairperson's decisions shall stand.
3. Approve all non-policy Behavioral Health Commission matters, other than matters to be decided by the full Behavioral Health Commission.
4. Recommend to the Behavioral Health Commission any amendments to the Bylaws deemed appropriate.
5. Periodically consult with the Behavioral Health Services Director, or their designee, on any or all behavioral health matters as needed or required.

1. Perform the duties of the Chairperson during the absence of the Chairperson.
2. Perform such duties as may be assigned by the Chairperson or the Behavioral Health Commission.
3. Act as an advisor to the Chairperson.

1. Scheduling site visits
2. Reporting outreach activities.

Section 9    There may be a representative, who may be either an officer or a member-at-large, to the California Association of Local Behavioral Health Boards & Commissions. The duties of the representative to the statewide organization shall be to represent the Behavioral Health Commission at statewide meetings and to make regular reports to the local Commission.

ARTICLE VIII—Committees

Section 1    There shall be a five (5) member Executive Committee comprised of the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson, the Public Information Secretary, the immediate past Chairperson, and one (1) member-at-large selected by a majority vote of the Commission. If any of the officers are unable to serve or if any member occupies two of the designated positions, then a replacement member, which may result in an Executive Committee with multiple members-at-large, shall be selected by a majority vote of the Commission to serve on the Executive Committee.  This committee shall comply with the Brown Act.

The Executive Committee shall meet regularly, but in no case less than quarterly, to prepare the agendas for the General Meetings. In addition, the Executive Committee shall prepare the agenda for the annual retreat, and carry out any responsibilities delegated to it by the Commission for any activities that do not require approval of the Commission. The Executive Committee is authorized to act on behalf of the Commission to fulfill the Commission's responsibilities only when time sensitive matters arise and an urgent response is required, but the entire Commission is unable to convene for a special meeting. In those circumstances the Executive Committee may perform only those actions necessary to deal with that emergent situation until such time as the Commission can be convened. Any actions taken pursuant to this subsection shall be placed on the agenda for the next subsequent General meeting for review by the Commission and are subject to the ratification or invalidation by a vote of the Commission.  

Section 2    There shall be an Adult Prevention and Treatment (APT) Committee whose scope is examining and monitoring the community's public behavioral health needs, services, facilities, and special problems in any facility within the county where mental health or substance use disorder evaluations or services are being provided, with a focus on adults and older adults. One of the members shall serve as chair of the committee and one of the members shall serve as a co-chair or vice-chair. Mental health services and substance use prevention and treatment services for the adult population will be considered in this committee's scope of work. This committee shall comply with the Brown Act.

Section 3    There shall be a Youth Prevention and Treatment (YPT) Committee whose scope is examining and monitoring the community's public behavioral health needs, services, facilities, and special problems in any facility within the county where mental health or substance use disorder evaluations or services are being provided, with a focus on children, youth (including transitional age youth), and families. One of the members shall serve as chair of the committee and one of the members shall serve as a co-chair or vice-chair. Mental health services and substance use prevention and treatment services for children, adolescents, and transitional age youth will be considered in this committee's scope of work. This committee shall comply with the Brown Act.

Section 4    There shall be a Crisis and Justice Involved Continuum (CJIC) Committee whose scope is examining and monitoring the community's public behavioral health needs, services, facilities, and special problems in any facility within the county where mental health or substance use disorder evaluations or services are being provided, with a focus on the crisis and justice involved population. One of the members shall serve as chair of the committee and one of the members shall serve as a co-chair or vice-chair. Mental health services and substance use prevention and treatment services for the crisis involved population will be considered in this committee's scope of work. This committee shall comply with the Brown Act.

Section 5  There shall be such other standing and ad hoc or temporary advisory committees as the Commission may establish and determine membership for on subjects within the responsibilities of the Commission.   The Chairperson may appoint the standing committee or ad hoc or temporary advisory committee Chairperson with concurrence of the Commission. 

ARTICLE IX—Concluding Provisions

Section 1    The meetings of this Commission shall be conducted in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order, Revised.

Section 2    Quorum and Voting:  An affirmative vote of the Commission is required to take any action to exercise the responsibilities of the Commission.  One (1) person more than one-half of the appointed members shall constitute a quorum for the conduct of Commission business.  Where a quorum is present, action may be taken only by a majority vote of the members voting at the meeting, Members must be present in person at the meeting to vote unless remote participation is otherwise provided by law.  Members requesting remote participation as permitted by law must notify the Commission Chair and staff designated by Behavioral Health Services as soon as reasonably possible. 

Section 3    Amendments:  These bylaws may be amended at any meeting of the Commission by a majority vote of the full Commission membership, provided that copies of the proposed amendments are sent to all members of the Commission at least five (5) days prior to the meeting at which such action is taken. The amendments must be approved by the Board of Supervisors.

Section 4    Effective Date:  These bylaws shall become effective immediately upon their adoption by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors.

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