Establishes a program enabling counties to opt-in to allow county jails to operate jail-based competency restoration services for incarcerated individuals deemed unfit for trial due to mental incapacity.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2322--A
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 16, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. McDONALD, WEPRIN, WOERNER -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Codes -- committee discharged, bill
amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
tee
AN ACT to amend the criminal procedure law, in relation to establishing
a program enabling counties to opt-in to allow county jails to operate
jail-based competency restoration services for incarcerated individ-
uals deemed unfit for trial due to mental incapacity
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 9 of section 730.10 of the criminal procedure
2 law, as added by section 1 of part Q of chapter 56 of the laws of 2012,
3 is amended to read as follows:
4 9. "Appropriate institution" means: (a) a hospital operated by the
5 office of mental health or a developmental center operated by the office
6 for people with developmental disabilities; [or] (b) a hospital licensed
7 by the department of health which operates a psychiatric unit licensed
8 by the office of mental health; or (c) a mental health unit operating
9 within a local correctional facility, as determined by the commissioner
10 provided, however, that any such hospital or local correctional health
11 authority that is not operated by the state shall qualify as an "appro-
12 priate institution" only pursuant to the terms of an agreement between
13 the commissioner and the hospital or local correctional health authori-
14 ty, or between the commissioner and a jail-based facility pursuant to
15 subdivision seven of section 730.60 of this article. Nothing in this
16 article shall be construed as requiring a hospital or locality to
17 consent to providing care and treatment to an incapacitated person at
18 such hospital or local correctional health authority. The commissioner
19 of mental health shall promulgate regulations for the local correctional
20 health authority to implement restoration to competency within a local
21 correctional facility.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03010-02-5
A. 2322--A 2
1 § 2. Subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 730.60 of the criminal procedure
2 law, subdivision 1 as amended by chapter 231 of the laws of 2008 and
3 subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 57 of the laws of 1984, are amended
4 and a new subdivision 7 is added to read as follows:
5 1. When a local criminal court issues a final or temporary order of
6 observation or an order of commitment, it must forward such order and a
7 copy of the examination reports and the accusatory instrument to the
8 commissioner, and, if available, a copy of the pre-sentence report. Upon
9 receipt thereof, the commissioner must designate an appropriate institu-
10 tion operated by the department of mental hygiene, or a county jail-
11 based competency restoration program pursuant to subdivision seven of
12 this section, in which the defendant is to be placed, provided, however,
13 that the commissioner may designate an appropriate hospital for place-
14 ment of a defendant for whom a final order of observation has been
15 issued, where such hospital is licensed by the office of mental health
16 and has agreed to accept, upon referral by the commissioner, defendants
17 subject to final orders of observation issued under this subdivision.
18 The sheriff must hold the defendant in custody pending such designation
19 by the commissioner, and when notified of the designation, the sheriff
20 must deliver the defendant to the superintendent of such institution.
21 The superintendent must promptly inform the appropriate director of the
22 mental hygiene legal service of the defendant's admission to such insti-
23 tution. If a defendant escapes from the custody of the commissioner, the
24 escape shall interrupt the period prescribed in any order of observa-
25 tion, commitment or retention, and such interruption shall continue
26 until the defendant is returned to the custody of the commissioner.
27 2. Except as otherwise provided in subdivisions four and five of this
28 section, when a defendant is in the custody of the commissioner pursuant
29 to a temporary order of observation or an order of commitment or an
30 order of retention, or a county jail-based competency restoration
31 program pursuant to subdivision seven of this section, the criminal
32 action pending against the defendant in the court that issued such order
33 is suspended until the superintendent of the institution in which the
34 defendant is confined or a clinical psychiatrist for a county jail-based
35 competency restoration program pursuant to subdivision seven of this
36 section determines that [he] the defendant is no longer an incapacitated
37 person. In that event, the court that issued such order and the appro-
38 priate district attorney must be notified, in writing, by the super-
39 intendent of [his] the superintendent's determination. The court must
40 thereupon proceed in accordance with the provisions of subdivision two
41 of section 730.30 of this [chapter] article; provided, however, if the
42 court is satisfied that the defendant remains an incapacitated person,
43 and upon consent of all parties, the court may order the return of the
44 defendant to the institution in which [he] the defendant had been
45 confined for such period of time as was authorized by the prior order of
46 commitment or order of retention. Upon such return, the defendant shall
47 have all rights and privileges accorded by the provisions of this arti-
48 cle.
49 7. (a) The office of mental health shall promulgate rules and regu-
50 lations for the development and implementation of a program allowing for
51 county jails to provide competency restoration services to incarcerated
52 individuals of such facilities. County participation in a jail-based
53 restoration program shall be voluntary.
54 (b) Each county may provide competency restoration services either
55 directly or through contract.
A. 2322--A 3
1 (c) Counties participating in a jail-based restoration program may
2 appoint a working group to develop rules, guidance and policies for such
3 program. The workgroup may include the following:
4 (1) one member who is a sheriff;
5 (2) one member who represents a local mental health authority;
6 (3) one member who is a county commissioner, county judge, or elected
7 county officer;
8 (4) one member who is a district attorney or county attorney with
9 criminal jurisdiction;
10 (5) one member who is a defense attorney;
11 (6) one member who is a judge of a district criminal court or county
12 criminal court;
13 (7) two members who are mental health advocates; and
14 (8) any other member the department considers appropriate to appoint
15 to the stakeholder workgroup.
16 (d) Providers of jail-based restoration services must:
17 (1) have provided such services in jail-based settings for at least
18 two years; and
19 (2) be a local mental health organization with prior experience
20 providing such services.
21 (e) A jail-based restoration program must:
22 (1) use a multidisciplinary team including an advanced psychiatric
23 provider, a qualified forensic examiner, mental health professional, and
24 competency educator;
25 (2) be directed toward the goal of restoring a defendant's fitness to
26 stand trial; and
27 (3) provide services similar to those provided in a hospital.
28 (f) A county participating in a jail-based restoration program shall:
29 (1) ensure the safety of defendants who participate in the jail-based
30 restoration of competency program;
31 (2) designate a separate space in the jail for the provider to conduct
32 the program;
33 (3) provide the same basic care to the participants as is provided to
34 other incarcerated individuals of a jail;
35 (4) supply clinically appropriate psychoactive medications as
36 warranted; and
37 (5) have in place an agreement with a hospital possessing a valid
38 operating certificate issued pursuant to article twenty-eight of the
39 public health law that can petition the court for and enforce treatment
40 over objection for individuals court ordered to restoration services who
41 refuse medication.
42 (g) If at any time during a defendant's participation in the jail-
43 based restoration program the psychiatrist or psychologist for the
44 provider determines that the defendant has attained fitness to proceed:
45 (1) the psychiatrist or psychologist for the provider shall promptly
46 issue and send to the court a report demonstrating that fact; and
47 (2) the court shall consider that report as the report of an expert
48 stating an opinion that the defendant has been restored to fitness.
49 (h) If at any time during a defendant's participation in the jail-
50 based restoration program the psychiatrist or psychologist for the
51 provider determines that the defendant's fitness to stand trial is
52 unlikely to be restored in the foreseeable future, the psychiatrist or
53 psychologist for the provider shall promptly issue and send to the court
54 a report demonstrating that fact.
55 (i) If the psychiatrist or psychologist for the provider determines
56 that a defendant ordered to participate in the program has not been
A. 2322--A 4
1 restored to fitness, but is believed to be restorable to fitness with
2 additional treatment by the end of the ninetieth day after the date the
3 defendant began to participate in the program, the defendant shall be
4 transferred, without unnecessary delay, to the first available facility
5 that is appropriate for that defendant pursuant to subdivision nine of
6 section 730.10 of this article.
7 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
