BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2190
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 30, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 2190 (Maienschein) - As Introduced: February 20, 2014
Policy Committee: Public
SafetyVote: 6-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill allows the court to place a person found incompetent
to stand trial (IST) or not guilty by reason of insanity (NGI)
on outpatient status without a minimum180-days of confinement in
a mental health treatment facility, and requires a
conservatorship investigator to submit a copy of his or her
report, upon the request of a defendant or his or her attorney,
to specified entities in a criminal case. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Authorizes outpatient status for a person currently required
to be confined in a state hospital or other treatment facility
for 180 days or more for the commission of specified violent
felony offenses before outpatient consideration, if the court
finds a suitable placement, including an outpatient program,
providing a more appropriate mental health treatment and the
court finds that the placement does not pose a danger to
anyone.
2)Requires the court to consider, rather than satisfy, the
following criteria before placing an IST or NGI on outpatient
status:
a) The director of the state hospital, or other facility,
advises the court the defendant would not be a danger to
others while under supervision and treatment in the
community.
b) The community program director advises the court the
defendant will benefit from outpatient placement and
identifies an appropriate program of supervision and
treatment.
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3)Requires a conservatorship investigator, when a criminal court
orders an evaluation of a defendant's mental condition, to
provide the report to the defendant or defense attorney. Upon
request of the defendant or defense attorney, the investigator
shall submit a copy of the report to the criminal court, the
district attorney, and the probation department.
4)Specifies the conservatorship investigation report may not be
disclosed without the defendant's consent. Requires the report
to be sealed, as specified, after disposition of the criminal
case.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Potential increase in state trial court costs to the extent
additional hearings are required to determine outpatient
placement for patients made eligible by this bill. If, for
example, an additional 5% of the IST/NGI population in state
hospitals receive a 2.5 hour outpatient placement hearing as a
result of this bill, the GF costs could exceed $150,000.
2)No significant state hospital costs or savings as result of
authorizing outpatient placements for IST or NGI defendants
who have not served 180 days in a state hospital or other
treatment facility. To the extent this authorization makes
more IST or NGI beds available, these beds will be filled
immediately from the existing waiting list of patients, who
remain in county jail until a bed becomes available.
Also, depending on whether the outpatient placement is more or
less costly than a DSH bed, there could be savings or costs to
DSH.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale . The objective of the author and sponsor, the
Judicial Council, is to provide judicial discretion to access
the most appropriate, effective, cost-efficient - and safe -
mental health treatment options for persons found IST or NGI.
According to the author, "By giving the courts the option to
place offenders with mental disorders in an outpatient
setting, offenders can be given the treatment that is most
appropriate for them. Not only does this give the courts more
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tools to properly treat mentally disordered offenders but
there is substantial evidence for cost saving as well. Also,
by permitting defendants to authorize the release of their
conservatorship reports to criminal courts, we can improve
coordination and treatment efforts between conservatorship
courts and criminal courts."
2)The Task Force for Criminal Justice Collaboration on Mental
Health Issues , under the administration of the Administrative
Office of the Courts, issued its final report, Recommendations
for Changing the Paradigm for Persons with Mental Illness in
the Criminal Justice System in 2011. The report made a series
of recommendations, including:
a) "Existing legislation should be modified or new
legislation be created to give judicial officers hearing
competency matters access to a variety of alternative
procedural and dispositional tools, such as the
jurisdiction to conditionally release a defendant found
incompetent to stand trial to the community, where
appropriate, rather than in a custodial or hospital
setting, to receive mental health treatment with
supervision until competency is restored."
b) "Some criminal defendants with mental illness may be
conserved or may be involved in conservatorship proceedings
at the same time that their criminal case is being
processed. Because these cases are currently heard by
different judicial officers on different calendars,
judicial officers hearing either the civil or criminal case
often do not have all applicable information, which can
result in conflicting orders and other complications for
the defendant?. people with mental illness who have become
involved in the criminal justice system are often clients
of other public systems, making collaboration between the
courts and community partners essential. For example, the
disposition of a case may require the defendant to receive
mental health treatment. However, without established
methods for communication and information-sharing
procedures in place, collaboration between courts and local
mental health and social service systems can be difficult.
This bill seeks to codify these task force recommendations.
3)The DSH current population : (4,967) at Atascadero, Coalinga,
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Metropolitan, Napa, and Patton State Hospitals comprises 1,350
persons NGI; 1,283 persons found IST; 258 mentally ill CDCR
commitments; 1,154 mentally disordered offenders; 897 sexually
violent predators; and 25 mentally disordered sex offenders.
4)Opposition . The CA Public Defenders Association opposes the
conservatorship provisions authorizing the sharing of
conservator investigation reports with specified criminal
court entities "because it is an encroachment on the privacy
rights of the proposed conservatee. Defendant and defense
counsel will be subjected to pressure to provide the
conservatorship report in order to obtain a better disposition
for the defendant. Although defense counsel may informally
show the report to the parties now, knowing that the parties
will have their own hard copies will have a chilling effect on
the individual seeking mental health treatment and cooperating
with the mental health evaluator."
Analysis Prepared by : Geoff Long / APPR. / (916) 319-2081