Enrolled Bill Summary

            Senate Bill 1057 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure, Family Code, and Health and Safety Code to establish procedures and standards for determining the competency of a defendant in criminal and juvenile justice cases. The bill defines a person to be incompetent if the person does not have sufficient present ability to consult with the person's lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding, or a rational, as well as factual, understanding of proceedings against the person.

            The bill provides that either party, or the court, may raise the issue of competency before or during the trial. If, after an informal inquiry, the court determines there is evidence to support a finding of incompetency, the court is required to order a competency evaluation. The bill provides that the defendant is entitled to counsel before the evaluation and during the competency proceedings. The bill sets forth the qualifications for experts providing the evaluation and the factors to be considered in the examination and included in the report. If the defendant's competency is contested, the bill establishes procedures for a hearing to determine the competency of the defendant to stand trial.

            Upon a finding of incompetency, the court is required to commit the defendant for an initial period not to exceed 120 days, with one 60-day extension permitted, for treatment to attain competency, or to release the defendant on bail if the person is not a danger to others and can be treated on an outpatient basis. The bill provides procedures for an extended commitment to a mental health facility or residential care facility if the defendant cannot be restored to competency within the initial commitment period. A court under certain conditions may compel a defendant, who has been restored to competency and refuses to continue to take the defendant's medication, to do so.

             The bill establishes guidelines for subsequent redeterminations of competency. If the defendant is found competent, and the criminal charges have not been dismissed, the criminal trial may proceed. If the defendant is found incompetent, and the criminal charges have been dismissed, the bill sets forth procedures for civil commitment proceedings.