Florida Senate - 2022                             CS for SB 1600
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs; and
       Senator Bradley
       
       
       
       
       586-02591-22                                          20221600c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to treatment of defendants adjudicated
    3         incompetent to stand trial; amending s. 916.106, F.S.;
    4         revising the definition of the term “forensic
    5         facility”; amending s. 916.13, F.S.; providing that a
    6         forensic client who is being held in a jail awaiting
    7         admission to a Department of Children and Families
    8         facility and who is likely to regain competence to
    9         proceed may receive treatment at any facility
   10         designated by the department; providing an effective
   11         date.
   12          
   13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   14  
   15         Section 1. Subsection (10) of section 916.106, Florida
   16  Statutes, is amended to read:
   17         916.106 Definitions.—For the purposes of this chapter, the
   18  term:
   19         (10) “Forensic facility” means a separate and secure
   20  facility established within the department or agency to serve
   21  forensic clients. A separate and secure facility means a
   22  security-grade building for the purpose of separately housing
   23  persons who have mental illness from persons who have
   24  intellectual disabilities or autism and separately housing
   25  persons who have been involuntarily committed pursuant to this
   26  chapter from nonforensic residents. The term includes a mental
   27  health facility operated by a community mental health provider
   28  which may be colocated in a county jail and which is deemed
   29  appropriate by the department.
   30         Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 916.13, Florida
   31  Statutes, is amended to read:
   32         916.13 Involuntary commitment of defendant adjudicated
   33  incompetent.—
   34         (2) A defendant who has been charged with a felony and who
   35  has been adjudicated incompetent to proceed due to mental
   36  illness, and who meets the criteria for involuntary commitment
   37  under this chapter, may be committed to the department, and the
   38  department shall retain and treat the defendant. For a forensic
   39  client who is held in a jail awaiting admission to a facility of
   40  the department, and who is likely to regain competence to
   41  proceed in the foreseeable future, restoration treatment may be
   42  provided at any facility deemed appropriate by the department
   43  secretary.
   44         (a) Immediately after receipt of a completed copy of the
   45  court commitment order containing all documentation required by
   46  the applicable Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, the
   47  department shall request all medical information relating to the
   48  defendant from the jail. The jail shall provide the department
   49  with all medical information relating to the defendant within 3
   50  business days after receipt of the department’s request or at
   51  the time the defendant enters the physical custody of the
   52  department, whichever is earlier.
   53         (b) Within 6 months after the date of admission and at the
   54  end of any period of extended commitment, or at any time the
   55  administrator or his or her designee determines that the
   56  defendant has regained competency to proceed or no longer meets
   57  the criteria for continued commitment, the administrator or
   58  designee shall file a report with the court pursuant to the
   59  applicable Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure.
   60         (c) A competency hearing must be held within 30 days after
   61  the court receives notification that the defendant is competent
   62  to proceed or no longer meets the criteria for continued
   63  commitment. The defendant must be transported to the committing
   64  court’s jurisdiction for the hearing. If the defendant is
   65  receiving psychotropic medication at a mental health facility at
   66  the time he or she is discharged and transferred to the jail,
   67  the administering of such medication must continue unless the
   68  jail physician documents the need to change or discontinue it.
   69  The jail and department physicians shall collaborate to ensure
   70  that medication changes do not adversely affect the defendant’s
   71  mental health status or his or her ability to continue with
   72  court proceedings; however, the final authority regarding the
   73  administering of medication to an inmate in jail rests with the
   74  jail physician.
   75         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.