House Bill No. by Representative Melerine amends and reenacts certain provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure regarding the determination of intellectual disability in capital cases. The bill requires that any defendant claiming intellectual disability must prove specific criteria by a preponderance of the evidence, including significantly subaverage intellectual functioning, substantial deficits in adaptive behavior, and that these conditions manifested before the age of eighteen. Additionally, the bill stipulates that both conditions must exist concurrently for a defendant to be considered intellectually disabled. The jury will typically address the issue of intellectual disability during the capital sentencing hearing unless both the state and the defendant agree to have it tried by a judge beforehand.

The bill also introduces new definitions for terms such as "adaptive behavior," "intellectually disabled," and "significantly subaverage intellectual functioning." It provides for the legislative overruling of previous jurisprudence related to intellectual disability claims in capital cases, specifically overruling the rulings in State v. Williams and State v. Dunn. Furthermore, it establishes that no person found to be intellectually disabled under this bill shall face a death sentence. The proposed law applies retroactively and prospectively to all post-conviction relief sought on the basis of intellectual disability and includes provisions for evidentiary hearings and the consideration of intelligence quotient test scores. Notably, the bill will become inoperative if the U.S. Supreme Court overrules Atkins v. Virginia, which currently prohibits the execution of intellectually disabled individuals.