Juvenile Competency To Proceed

Legislative Oversight Committee Concerning the Treatment of Persons with Behavioral Health Disorders in the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Systems. The bill addresses issues related to a determination of juvenile competency to proceed (competency) and restoration of competency (restoration). The bill allows:

• The district attorney, defense attorney, guardian ad litem, department of human services, a competency evaluator, a restoration treatment provider, and the court, without written consent of the juvenile or further order of the court, to access competency evaluations and restoration evaluations, including all second evaluations; information and documents related to competency evaluations; the competency evaluator, for the purpose of discussing the competency evaluation; and the providers of court-ordered restoration services for the purpose of discussing such services;
• Parties to exchange names, addresses, reports, and statements of physicians or psychologists who examined or treated the juvenile for competency;
• The court or any party to raise, at any time, the issue of a need for a restoration evaluation of the juvenile's competency; and
• A juvenile to be examined by a competency evaluator of the juvenile's own choice and to request a second evaluation in response to a court-ordered competency evaluation or a court-ordered restoration evaluation.

If the court determines that the juvenile is incompetent to proceed and unlikely to be restored to competency in the reasonably foreseeable future, a time frame is set forth for the dismissal of charges based on the severity and type of charge.

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)