Lawmakers back 25‑member task force to review criminal‑insanity and competency statutes

House Bill 13‑59 would create a 25‑member task force to review Washington’s laws on criminal insanity and competency to stand trial, staff told the Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee on Feb. 5.

Eric Lopez, staff to the committee, said the bill “establishes a 25 member task force to to review laws on criminal insanity and competency to stand trial.” He told the committee the statutes at issue are codified in chapter 10.77 and are overseen in part by the Office of Forensic Mental Health Services at the Department of Social and Health Services.

The task force would be charged with recommending statute changes to “clean up and modernize” chapter 10.77, promote patient‑centered language to reduce stigma, remove barriers to diversion and effective treatment, reorganize the chapter under thematic headings and decodify obsolete sections, Lopez said.

Why it matters: Judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers and advocacy groups told the committee that chapter 10.77 — enacted in 1973 and amended piecemeal for decades — contains inconsistencies and gaps that create different mandatory processes across municipal, district and superior courts. King County District Court Judge Michael Finkel told the…