Legislative committee hears testimony on bill to create forensic facility for justice-involved people with mental-health needs

A legislative committee heard detailed briefings and testimony on a bill to create a state forensic facility for people involved in criminal proceedings who have mental-health conditions, with members and witnesses raising questions about eligibility, whether care belongs in corrections or Department of Mental Health settings, and the likely scale of need.

Eric Fitzpatrick, who identified himself as "Eric Fitzpatrick with the office of Budget Slave Council," told the committee the proposal would cover two forensic tracks: people found incompetent to stand trial in very serious cases and people found not guilty by reason of insanity. Fitzpatrick said the bill follows U.S. Supreme Court standards for involuntary medication when used to restore competency, explaining that such medication must be medically appropriate, must "serve the important governmental interest of bringing to trial an individual accused of a serious crime," and must be substantially likely to restore competency. "The whole idea is to restore the person's competency so that they can end state trial," he said.

Committee members…