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Committee advances competency-process bill after debate over mandatory hearings and ex parte protections
Summary
Legislation to standardize competency evaluation and restoration procedures, including a required hearing at early stages of a competency referral, cleared committee after debate over whether the hearing should be mandatory and how ex parte and due-process protections should operate.
A committee advanced a bill intended to standardize how courts handle competency evaluations and restoration for criminal defendants who may be mentally incompetent to stand trial.
Senator Brian Strickland, sponsor of Senate Bill 132, described the measure as aimed at improving gatekeeping for competency evaluations and speeding restoration where appropriate. "This is a bill just to remind you all that deals with the issue of how we handle the competency process with someone charged with a crime that's not competent to face their charges," Strickland said, and he described the measure as coming from a Behavioral Health Reform and Innovation Commission subcommittee.
The bill requires an early hearing where a judge, defense counsel or prosecutor "notice[s] a situation" raising competency concerns. The transcript shows the main point of contention centered on language in the bill that would…
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