Competency Evaluation Location

Under current law, the court determines the location of a competency evaluation. The act specifies the evaluation must be done on an outpatient basis or where the defendant is held in custody. The act allows a defendant to be placed in the custody of the Colorado mental health institute at Pueblo (CMHIP) for purposes of the examination if:

• The court finds the defendant may be a danger to self or others;
• The court finds that an inadequate competency evaluation and report has been completed or two or more conflicting competency evaluations and reports have been completed;
• The court finds that an observation period is necessary to determine if the defendant is competent to stand trial;
• The court receives a recommendation from the CMHIP court services evaluator that conducting the examination at the CMHIP is appropriate because the evaluator conducting the evaluation for the CMHIP determines that the defendant has been uncooperative or the defendant has clinical needs that warrant transfer to the CMHIP; or
• The court receives written approval for the evaluation to be conducted at the CMHIP from the executive director of the department of human services, or his or her designee.

The court is prohibited from considering whether the defendant is going to have a competency evaluation when deciding whether to grant bond to the defendant. If a defendant needs to return to the county jail after completing the evaluation, the act directs the county sheriff to make all reasonable efforts to return the defendant to the jail as soon as possible after the defendant's evaluation is completed. The act repeals the provision that CMHIP must bill the court for the costs associated with the evaluation.

The act makes adjustments to the 2016 general appropriation act (House Bill 16-1405) for the implementation of this act.

$107,076 is appropriated to the department of human services from the general fund for the implementation of the act.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)