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Senate passes substitute bill setting timelines, procedures for incompetent defendants
Summary
The Senate passed the first substitute to SB 22, outlining examinations, timelines for competency restoration and pathways (remand, reports, discharge or civil commitment) for defendants found incompetent; the substitute passed on first reading and will go to the House.
The Utah Senate approved the first substitute to Senate Bill 22, a substantive revision setting the process for handling criminal defendants deemed incompetent.
Senator Montgomery, who presented the substitute, said the bill responds to court decisions (including Jackson v. Indiana) and court rulings in the state that left statutory gaps on how long defendants can be held and the procedures for treatment and review. The substitute requires courts to order examination by two mental‑health professionals (with specific expertise when mental retardation is an issue), sets an initial report deadline at 30 days (extendable to 60), and creates staged cutoffs for restoration efforts (including periods such as 180 days, then a year, and up to 36 months or up to six years for capital cases). "If competency is achieved, then the trial may proceed," Montgomery said; if not, the bill requires discharge of the criminal complaint and provides civil‑commitment options when there is continuing societal risk.
Senators asked about details and oversight; Montgomery said the bill was drafted by an attorney‑general task force and intended to give courts a clear statutory framework. A call for the question produced a favorable roll call: the clerk announced the first substitute passed with 25 yeas and no recorded nays on the floor, and the bill was sent to the House for further action.
