The Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services presented a large package of rule repeals Jan. 27 intended to remove outdated rules and rules that now belong under the Department of Disability and Aging (DDA).

Kristen Baloff, the department’s director of legislation and rules, said the repeal package followed the comprehensive retrospective review required by Tennessee Code Annotated §4‑5‑213 and that DDA confirmed jurisdiction over rules that once covered intellectual and developmental disability services. Assistant director Angela Jackson read through a list of rules proposed for repeal, explaining most predate the creation of DDA or are duplicative or outdated.

Examples include several chapters that governed developmental centers, mental retardation habilitation and residential programs, and facility licensing rules that now fall under DDA’s licensure authority. The department told the committee the repeals are a jurisdictional cleanup and do not change services or operations for current recipients.

No public comments were offered. Representative and Senator members recorded votes (Senate roll call and House voice vote) and the committee carried the repeal package.

Department staff said they had coordinated with DDA and that the repeal clears obsolete statutory language (many provisions used the older term “mental retardation,” now updated by statute and agency practice) from the Mental Health department rule chapter set.

Committee members thanked the department for the work and urged agencies to continue early outreach to members when large rule cleanups or transfers are expected.