BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2186
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Date of Hearing: April 30, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 2186 (Lowenthal) - As Amended: April 21, 2014
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes the representative of any facility where a
defendant found incompetent to stand trial (IST) is committed
(generally a state hospital) to petition for an order to
involuntarily medicate the defendant with antipsychotic
medication. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the court, when determining if a defendant lacks
capacity to make decisions regarding the administration of
antipsychotic medication, to consider opinions in reports
prepared by the psychiatrist or psychologist appointed by the
court to examine the defendant for mental competency purposes.
2)Requires the court, if it finds any one of a list of
conditions to be true, to issue an order, as specified, and
valid for no more than one year, authorizing involuntary
administration of antipsychotic medication to the defendant
when and as prescribed by the defendant's treating
psychiatrist at a state hospital or other facility.
3)Provides that if an administrative law judge upholds the
21-day certification by the defendant's treating psychiatrist
that antipsychotic medication is medically necessary, the
court may, for a period not to exceed 14 days, extend the
certification and continue the required hearing pursuant to
stipulation between the parties or upon a finding of good
cause.
4)Allows the district attorney, county counsel, or
representative of a state hospital or other facility to
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petition the court for an order, reviewable as specified, to
administer involuntary medication pursuant to specified
criteria.
5)Requires the court to review the order to administer
involuntary medication at the time of the review of the
initial competency report by the medical director of the
treatment facility and at review of the 6-month progress
reports.
6)Allows the district attorney, county counsel, or
representative of a state hospital or other facility to
petition the court, within 60 days of the expiration of a
one-year involuntary medication order, for a renewal of the
order, subject to specified conditions.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor state trial court costs, offset by savings from increased
efficiencies for the courts and the state hospitals.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. Sponsored by DSH, this bill is intended to improve
mental health treatment for IST patients while also creating
efficiencies for DSH and state hospitals.
According to the author, "AB 2186 ensures continuity of
treatment for IST patients as they transition between state
hospitals and county jails, and streamlines reporting
requirements to ensure that the individual is provided with
appropriate, necessary, and beneficial mental health treatment
that is consistent with their due process rights.
"Any gap in medication coverage can result in the defendant
decompensating to the point of incompetency once again,
necessitating a recommitment in the state hospital. Delays in
treatment not only put the defendant's mental health at risk,
but also result in unnecessary costs to the state for
additional treatment in a state hospital."
2)Current law requires a court to issue an order authorizing the
treatment facility to involuntarily administer antipsychotic
medication to a defendant when prescribed by the defendant's
treating psychiatrist if the court finds any of the following
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to be true: (a) the patient lacks capacity to make decisions
regarding antipsychotic medication; (b) the patient's mental
disorder requires medical treatment with antipsychotic
medication; and (c) if the patient's mental disorder is not
treated with antipsychotic medication it is probable that
serious harm to the patient will result; (d) the patient is a
danger to others; (e) the defendant is charged with a serious
crime and involuntary administration of antipsychotic
medication is likely to render the defendant competent to
stand trial and is in the patient's best medical interest.
3)Support . DSH states this bill "will result in better mental
health treatment for IST patients and reduced costs to both
the court system and the state through increased efficiency
and decreased workload. In addition, the changes could reduce
patient-on-patient and patient-on-staff violence due to IST
defendants receiving antipsychotic medication in a timely
manner. Allowing patients to be medicated more quickly, thus
restoring them to competency and returning them to court for
trial could also decrease the backlog of IST defendants in
jails awaiting bed space in a state hospital."
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081