House Bill 13‑37, a one‑time grant program seeking up to $10,000,000 to fund mental‑health and substance‑use disorder services in county jails, failed to advance out of the House Appropriations Committee on a do‑not‑pass recommendation.

The bill’s sponsor, Representative Matt Ruby, told the committee the measure would scale a pilot that Walsh County ran with leftover ARPA funds. “House bill 13 37 is a grant program. It's asking for … $10,000,000,” Ruby said during the hearing.

The bill grew out of a Walsh County pilot that Ruby said served about 294 participants over three years and reported high completion rates. Pam Segnus, executive director for Behavioral Health at the Department of Health and Human Services, told the committee that the state already deploys several jail‑focused services — including the SUD voucher for addiction treatment, the Integrated Telehealth Partners (ITP) contract for assessment and medication management, and direct services through state human service centers — but that capacity gaps remain. “To date this biennium … we've served 1,300 individuals in the jail setting,” Segnus said.

Committee members raised concerns about fragmentation, overlap with existing programs, and whether ongoing services should be administered through the Department of Human Services rather than a county grant program. Representative Russell Nelson pressed whether the Community‑Centered Behavioral Health Clinic rollout and other regional efforts might address some of the same needs and said he was “uncomfortable with just a grant of counties.” Segnus and others said a grant could serve as short‑term, start‑up funding while counties develop sustainable models.

After discussion, Representative Nelson moved a do‑not‑pass recommendation; Representative Nathie seconded. The committee roll call produced a tally of 20 yes, 0 no, 3 absent on the do‑not‑pass motion. The committee recorded that members would work with HHS staff on language in the human services budget to pursue alternatives.

The committee made clear the opposition was not to improving jail‑based mental‑health care but to the bill’s design and funding path. Committee members asked HHS to propose language to integrate services with existing vouchers, telehealth contracts and CCBHC implementation and to provide clearer reporting on outcomes if one‑time funds were used to begin new services.

No final floor action on the bill was recorded during the hearing; the committee announced that the bill would be referred back to the sponsor and that Representative O’Brien would carry the bill forward for further work with HHS and the HR section.