Committee narrows DOC role in proposed forensic facility, asks AHS for interim restoration program

The House Corrections & Institutions Committee on May 14 refined drafting language for a bill that would create a forensic facility and an interim competency restoration program, clarifying that the Department of Corrections (DOC) should not operate or staff the facility but may provide security at the admitting area and around the outside perimeter if the facility sits on a correctional campus.

The chair said the bill should make "very clear that the department would not operate or staff the forensic facility," while still allowing DOC to "monitor the security of folks coming in" at the front entry. A staff member advising the panel recommended adding the phrase "except to provide security services at the admitting area and around the outside perimeter" to the internal-security exception so the draft matches the committee's intent.

Why it matters: lawmakers want to preserve a therapeutic, noncarceral program environment inside the proposed facility while addressing practical safety concerns when a forensic site is colocated on DOC grounds. Committee members also pressed the Agency of Human Services (AHS) to provide…