Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §1559, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2001, c. 153, §1, is further amended to read:

1. Administration of medication by sheriff or deputy. The sheriff of any county may administer to any prisoner in custody any oral or topical medication as prescribed by a licensed physician, nurse practitioner, physician assistant or dentist and approved by the facility health care provider or, if requested by a prisoner, any nonprescription medication in accordance with the directions on its container. The sheriff may delegate this authority to administer medication to the jail administrator or the jail administrator's designee or the facility health care provider. A jail may not be required to dispense medications in blister packs.__A jail's medication formulary must have the same medications available as in other state institutions.__When possible, the Department of Health and Human Services shall assist jails with the purchase of medications through joint purchasing agreements.

Sec. 2. Specialized units; report. The Department of Corrections, in cooperation with a statewide sheriffs' association and a statewide county commissioners' association, shall assist county jails that are consolidating or building new jails to develop specialized units with the capacity to provide acute psychiatric care, stabilization, assessment and treatment of inmates who have been determined to require immediate hospitalization because those inmates are a danger to themselves or others or are unable to care for themselves but no forensic hospital beds or other appropriate alternatives are immediately available. The Department of Corrections shall report to the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services and the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety no later than March 30, 2006 regarding the need for specialized units and the department's recommendations for developing those units.

Sec. 3. Implementation of Public Law 2001, chapter 659; report. The Department of Health and Human Services shall report to the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services and the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety no later than March 30, 2006 regarding the status of its implementation of Public Law 2001, chapter 659 including steps taken by the department to enforce Parts B, C and D of that law.

Sec. 4. Community integration services funding; report. The Department of Health and Human Services shall report to the Joint Standing Committee on Health and Human Services and the Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety no later than March 30, 2006 regarding efforts to provide ongoing