House Judiciary Committee advances draft S.193 amendment to create forensic facility, debates safeguards for competency cases

The House Judiciary Committee on April 16 reviewed draft 1.1 of S.193, a bill that would create a forensic facility and set procedures for defendants found incompetent to stand trial or found not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI). Committee members, Legislative Counsel and outside advisers debated how frequently courts should re‑evaluate competency, when forensic risk assessments must be done, who must carry out assessments and how the statute should protect defendants’ constitutional rights.

Eric, counsel at the Office of Legislative Council, told the committee the amendment focuses mainly on competency provisions and is designed to make the statute “more straightforward and more defensible as far as … the constitution.” He said the draft keeps a six‑month re‑evaluation cycle for defendants found incompetent and creates a mechanism for any party to request a focused “restorability” evaluation to determine whether competency can be restored.

The draft instructs the court to order a forensic risk assessment and hold a hearing within 60 days if it finds a defendant is not restorable. At that hearing the state must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the person “suffers from a qualifying condition that upon the person's release would create substantial risk of bodily injury to another person.” If the…