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Supporters seek time to refine competency restoration bill after fiscal concerns
Summary
Reverend Mark Pearson and mental-health advocates described HB 480, a proposal to establish forensic liaisons and contracted competency restoration services; sponsors asked the Senate to re-refer the bill for further drafting after a fiscal note they called excessive.
Reverend Mark Pearson told the Senate Judiciary Committee House Bill 480 seeks to establish programs and staff to restore competency to people charged with crimes but found incompetent to stand trial. Pearson said New Hampshire currently lacks a focused restoration program like those used in other states and that the bill would create two main mechanisms: hiring forensic liaisons and contracting with service providers to deliver competency restoration treatment.
“Depending on the year, the percentage rate of restoration of competency in New Hampshire has been between the high thirties and low forties,” Pearson said, and added that other states using outpatient programs report restoration rates “between the high sixties and mid seventies” and up to 81 percent for inpatient programs. He described liaisons as staff who would help defendants attend initial competency evaluations, ensure treatment appointments occur, assist in obtaining services, and communicate progress to the court.
Pearson and witnesses said the bill was developed with input from senior judiciary and Department of Health and Human Services staff and that counties have expressed interest in pilot programs. But he said a fiscal note that accompanied the bill — “over a million dollars,” as he described it — appeared premature because county pilots and staffing needs had not been fully specified.
Holly Stevens, director of public policy at NAMI New Hampshire, and Karen Rosenberg and Hannah Roberts from the Disability Rights Center said they supported creating a restoration program but also supported re-referral to allow stakeholders additional time to refine scope, build trust in services, and design data collection for evaluation. Roberts, a former public defender and now staff attorney, urged the committee to include data collection plans so the pilot could show barriers to engagement and service uptake.
After testimony and questions, the committee moved to re-refer the bill so principal parties could further refine the proposal; the motion to refer was seconded and adopted on a voice vote.
