HBA-JLV, AMW C.S.H.B. 1093 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 1093 By: Farabee Criminal Jurisprudence 3/18/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, no specific reference is made to local mental health or mental retardation authorities relating to the competency of an individual to stand trial. Currently, no formal role exists for these authorities in making recommendations regarding the hospitalization of individuals found incompetent to stand trial. Also, individuals with mental retardation found incompetent to stand trial for a misdemeanor may be committed to the maximum security unit of a mental health and mental retardation facility, while individuals with a mental illness found incompetent to stand trial for a misdemeanor are committed to a designated mental health facility in the attachment area of the committing court. C.S.H.B. 1093 includes specific roles for the local mental health or mental retardation authority in performing competency evaluations and determining the placement of an individual with mental retardation who is found incompetent to stand trial for a misdemeanor. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 1093 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure relating to incompetency to stand trial, to add the local mental health or mental retardation authority (local authority) to the mental health experts the court is authorized to appoint to examine the defendant and testify at any trial or hearing. The bill modifies provisions relating to the submission to examination and commitment of a defendant. The bill modifies provisions relating to payment of appointed experts and reimbursement of a facility that accepts a defendant for examination. The bill requires the court, when a defendant has been determined incompetent to stand trial for a felony or misdemeanor because of mental illness or mental retardation, to determine whether the conduct committed by the defendant involved an act, attempt, or threat of serious bodily injury to another person. If the court determines that the defendant's conduct did not involve an act, attempt, or threat of serious bodily injury to another person, the bill requires the court to enter an order committing the defendant to a mental health facility determined to be appropriate by the local mental health or mental retardation authority. The bill deletes provisions providing that a defendant be committed to a mental health facility when a defendant has been determined incompetent to stand trial for a misdemeanor because of mental illness, and absent a determination that there is no substantial probability that the defendant will attain competency to stand trial in the foreseeable future. The bill authorizes the court, on request of the local authority, to enter an order committing the defendant to a facility operated by the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 1093 modifies the original to include misdemeanors when a defendant has been determined incompetent to stand trial for a crime because of mental illness or mental retardation. The substitute modifies the original to require the court to enter an order committing the defendant to the maximum security unit of any facility designated by the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation if the court determines that the defendant's conduct involved an act, attempt, or threat of serious bodily injury to another person. The substitute modifies the original to remove provisions providing that a defendant be committed to a mental health facility when a defendant has been determined incompetent to stand trial for a misdemeanor because of mental illness, and absent a determination that there is no substantial probability that the defendant will attain competency to stand trial in the foreseeable future.