Administration of Justice update 2/7/2014
Judicial Council Sponsored Legislation: Outpatient Status for Mentally Disordered and Developmentally Disabled Offenders: Request for Comment
In December, the Judicial Council of California approved a recommendation submitted by the Policy Coordination and Liaison Committee, in conjunction with the Mental Health Issues Implementation Task Force (MHIITF), to sponsor legislation for the 2014 legislative session which would allow the court, when appropriate, to conditionally release a defendant found to be incompetent to stand trial to a placement in the community, rather than in a custodial or inpatient setting, in order to avoid delays in case processing and to allow them to access mental health treatment in a more timely manner until the point at which competency can be restored.
As you may be aware, California’s criminal courts serve a disproportionate number of mentally ill offenders and the Judicial Council, along with its advisory committees, have been working over the years to develop and improve system-wide responses for offenders suffering with mental illness.
Under the proposal approved by the Judicial Council, Penal Code Sections 1601-1603 pertaining to outpatient status for mentally disordered and developmentally disabled offenders would be amended as follows:
- Penal Code Section 1601(a) would be amended to allow the court, when appropriate, to conditionally release a defendant found incompetent to stand trial to the community, rather than to a custodial or inpatient setting if the court finds that an alternative placement would provide more appropriate treatment for the defendant and that the placement would not pose a danger to the health and safety of others.
- Penal Code Sections 1602(a) and 1603(a) would be amended to require the court to consider all listed criteria before placing an offender who is subject to section 1601(a) or (b) on outpatient status, instead of requiring the court to find that all of the listed criteria have been met before placement on outpatient status.
- Penal Code Subsection 1602(a)(3) would be renumbered to 1602(b), and modified to clarify that before determining whether to place a person on outpatient status, notice must be provided to the prosecutor and defense counsel and a court hearing held at which the court may specifically order outpatient status.
According to the Judicial Council, the proposed legislation would result in improved case handling for defendants with mental illness without placing additional burdens on the courts. Further, they believe the legislation, if approved, would encourage greater collaboration with justice system partners by fostering communication and coordination concerning appropriate placement options for mental health treatment that would ultimately result in better outcomes for this specific type of offender.
We are currently reviewing the proposal and CSAC has not taken a position at this time. If you have comments, questions, or concerns related to the proposed legislation, please email Elizabeth Howard Espinosa, at ehoward@counties.org, or London Biggs atlbiggs@counties.org.
For a full discussion of the proposal, including executive summary, amended language, and policy rationale, please review the December 13, 2013 Report to the Judicial Council by clickinghere.
February Training Opportunity: Connecting Court-Involved Individuals to treatment under the Affordable Care Act: February 21, 2014
There is still time to register for the Joint Training Partnership’s third seminar in our healthcare series. Sponsored by CSAC, The California Sheriffs’ Association, and The Chief Probation Officers of California, this one-day event entitled “Nuts and Bolts: Connecting Court-Involved Individuals to Treatment under the Affordable Care Act” will provide those working in the criminal justice system with specific strategies and detailed examples of how to connect justice involved individuals to treatment.
The session is designed to offer diverse county perspectives that will focus on three main areas affecting practitioners in the field:
Policy decisions impacting eligibility, enrollment, and liability
- Jail and community-based case studies
- Tactics for improving access to care
County stakeholders are highly encouraged to attend as teams, particularly those working with or planning to work on continuum of care issues. Ideal participants include corrections and probation administrators, health and behavioral health providers, county administrators, and local law enforcement officials.
We anticipate that this will be a very popular convening and spots are limited, so please don’t wait to sign-up.
Where: Hyatt Regency Sacramento
1209 L Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
When: February 21, 2014: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Cost: $100 per individual, includes course materials and lunch
For hotel accommodations and booking, please click here. Please note that our promotional rate for the event expires on February 6, 2014 so book your room today!
To register for the training, please following the link provided here .
Legislative Update
Mentally Disordered Offender Legislation Held in Committee
AB 1065 (Holden) – Support
As amended January 6, 2014
As you may recall, AB 1065, by Assembly Member Chris Holden and sponsored by Los Angeles County, sought to provide additional notification to county probation departments should an individual’s Mentally Disordered Offender (MDO) status change due to a court order. Specifically, AB 1065 aimed to extend the time the State would hold an offender after they had been declassified as MDO from five to 30 days. Additionally, the bill would have required CDCR to notify the county of a pending release of a former MDO within five days of a court order for release.
Although CSAC supported the bill given that additional notification and planning time before discharge would allow for more coordinated and safer releases into the community, the bill was held in Assembly Appropriations and is inactive at this time.
CSAC will keep our members apprised should the bill or a similar piece of legislation move forward this session.
Non-Homicide Trials Cost Assistance
SB 16 (Gaines) – Support
As amended May 21, 2013
SB 16, by Senator Ted Gaines, seeks to address cost assistance in non-homicide criminal cases. CSAC and RCRC jointly support this measure.
SB 16 would create a cost assistance program largely modeled after the homicide reimbursement program in which state financial assistance may be available when costs greatly exceed a county’s financial capacity. Under this measure, counties could apply to the State Controller’s Office if costs in a non-homicide trial exceed a specified threshold of the county’s assessed property value. The program would be subject to an appropriation by the Legislature.
In our view, SB 16 is narrowly crafted and seeks to address only the most complex and costly cases that threaten to overwhelm a county’s ability to provide an appropriate defense. The reimbursement program only would apply to cases in which the Attorney General is handling the prosecution due to the matter’s scope and complexity. The bill stems from a case in the author’s jurisdiction where a case involving a complex financial scheme is severely taxing the county’s resources.
SB 16 was passed by the Senate on a unanimous vote. The bill now awaits referral to a policy committee in the Assembly.
Mandatory Supervision
AB 579 (Melendez) – Support
As amended January, 15, 2014
AB 579 by Assembly Member Melissa Melendez is an urgency measure which seeks to clarify in state law that the period of mandatory supervision period begins immediately upon release from custody for individuals who have been given a split sentence under Penal Code Section 1170 (h) as a result of Realignment.
This is not a new policy, but rather clean-up language necessary to correct a chaptering out issue created by 2013 legislation which amended the same code section and inadvertently removed the mandatory supervision language.
CSAC supports this measure as it will ensure that county probation departments are – once again – able to initiate their mandatory supervision duties as originally intended by statute.
AB 579 is co-sponsored by the California State Sheriffs’ Association and the Chief Probation Officers of California. The bill passed out of the Assembly on a unanimous vote and now awaits referral to the Senate Public Safety Committee.