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Committee adopts guardrails on competency-treatment bill, moves it favorably
Summary
An amendment to Senate Bill 374—addressing evaluation and treatment during competency proceedings for serious offenses—was adopted after AG and KCDAA engagement; the amendment sets timelines and evidentiary burdens for forced medication and the committee recommended the bill favorably.
The Senate Judiciary Committee adopted an amendment to Senate Bill 374 that narrows and clarifies when evaluations and involuntary treatment may occur during competency proceedings for defendants charged with the most serious offenses (off-grid severity levels 1–3). After in-committee debate and a statement from the Attorney General’s office that it had worked with the Kansas County and District Attorneys Association (KCDAA) on the language, the committee passed the amendment and recommended the bill favorably.
Key changes in the adopted amendment include: allowing evaluations and treatment at appropriate state, county or private facilities; requiring that when medication is to be administered over a defendant’s objection the medical director must certify within 30 days whether medication is likely to restore competency and the court must set a hearing within 30 days (unless good cause); the prosecuting attorney bears the burden at the hearing to prove statutory factors by clear and convincing evidence and must additionally show the medication is substantially likely to render the defendant competent; the defendant may be represented by counsel and need not be present; the court may permit two-way audiovisual testimony; and technical corrections to felony severity references and statutory placements (including amendments tied to KSA 59-46-83 and KSA 59-29-65).
Senators expressed concern about scope and workability; several members said they wanted assurance prosecutors would have a usable tool. Deputy Attorney General Jessica Domi and KCDAA representatives indicated they collaborated on the amendment and supported it. The committee approved the amendment by voice vote and then voted to recommend SB 374, as amended, favorably for passage.
The amendment moves certain determinations into the Care and Treatment Act and clarifies that, for defendants charged with severity 1–3 offenses, a presumption may apply in involuntary commitment proceedings that the defendant is likely to cause harm to self or others when the court is required to make that determination. The transcript records voice votes; no roll-call tallies were recorded.
