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State agencies back limited forensic facility and competency-restoration plan; clarify safeguards and timelines
Summary
Agency of Human Services, Department of Mental Health and Department of Corrections told the Judiciary committee they support creating a secure forensic option and competency-restoration pathway focused on public safety and due process, while proposing operational, clinical and legal refinements including longer evaluation timelines, centralized evaluator contracts, and annual reassessments.
Kristin McLaurin, deputy secretary at the Agency of Human Services, told the Judiciary committee on Feb. 5 that the agency supports a proposal to create a secure forensic facility within the Department of Corrections paired with a competency-restoration process intended to protect public safety and uphold due process.
"We support a forensic facility within the Department of Corrections paired with clear competency restoration process," McLaurin said, framing the plan as a way to keep people who cannot proceed to trial due to competency issues out of cycles between courts, hospitals and corrections.
Karen Barber, general counsel for the Department of Mental Health, told senators the plan is narrowly targeted and not intended to replace hospital-level care or existing Act 248 processes. Barber said the bill would focus on people who do not meet inpatient-hospitalization criteria or Act 248 thresholds and identified three groups the proposal addresses: people charged with misdemeanors who repeatedly enter competency evaluations, a small number of defendants…
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