A Fulton State Hospital employee told state Rep. Jeanie Riddle last August he sometimes had to work double shifts several days in a row, prompting her to file a bill regulating shifts at state mental health facilities. That bill now is on its way to the Senate, after the House passed it Thursday on a 149-0 vote.
The bill prohibits employees at Missouri's medium- and maximum-security mental health care facilities from being forced to work more than 12 hours in any 24-hour period - unless the governor declares a state of emergency.