An Act To
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1433
Committee Amendment CA_A_H297 (House)
Amends: 15 MRSA §104-A

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 1022, L.D. 1433, Bill, "An Act To 
Amend the Laws Governing Mental Responsibility for Criminal Conduct" 
Amend the bill in section 1 in subsection 4 by striking out all of paragraph B (page 1, 
lines 26 to 44 and page 2, lines 1 to 6 in L.D.) and inserting the following: 
'B. Upon a determination by the State Forensic Service under paragraph A, a court 
having jurisdiction in a criminal case may commit the defendant to the custody of the 
Commissioner of Health and Human Services for placement in an appropriate 
institution for the care and treatment of people with mental illness or in an 
appropriate residential program that provides care and treatment for persons who 
have intellectual disabilities or autism for observation for a period not to exceed 60 
days. If the State Forensic Service requires additional time for observation, it shall 
communicate its request and the reasons for that request to the court and to counsel 
for the parties. The court shall accommodate a party's request to be heard on the 
issue of whether an extension should be granted and may extend the commitment for 
up to an additional 90 days. 
Unless the defendant objects, an order under this 
paragraph must authorize the institution or residential program where the defendant is 
placed by the Commissioner of Health and Human Services to provide treatment to 
the defendant. When further observation of the defendant is determined no longer 
necessary by the State Forensic Service, the commissioner shall report that 
determination to the court and the court shall terminate the commitment. 
If the 
defendant had been incarcerated prior to the commitment for observation and if, 
during the period of observation, the defendant presents a substantial risk of causing 
bodily injury to staff or others that cannot be managed in an appropriate institution 
for the care and treatment of people with mental illness or in an appropriate 
residential program that provides care and treatment for persons who have intellectual 
disabilities or autism, the commissioner may return the defendant to the correctional 
facility. The commissioner shall report the risk management issues to the court. 
Upon receiving the report, the court shall review the report and may enter any order 
authorized by this section, including termination of the commitment.' 
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 2 and inserting the following: 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT A 
. to H.P. 1022, L.D. 1433 
'Sec. 2. 15 MRS A §101-D, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2013, c. 21, §2, is further 
amended to read: 
5. Finding of incompetence; custody; bail. If, after hearing upon motion of the 
attorney for the defendant or upon the court's own motion, the court finds that any 
defendant is incompetent to stand trial, the court shall continue the case until such time as 
the defendant is determined by the court to be competent to stand trial and may either: 
A. Commit the defendant to the custody of the Commissioner of Health and Human 
Services to be plaeed in an for appropriate placement for observation, care and 
treatment in an institution for the care and treatment of people with mental illness ef 
in, an appropriate residential program that provides care and treatment for persons 
who have intellectual disabilities or autism fer observation, eare and treatment, an 
intermediate care facility for persons who have intellectual disabilities or autism, a 
crisis stabilization unit, a nursing home, a residential care facility, an assisted living 
facility, a hospice, a hospital or any living situation specifically approved by the 
court. At the end of 30 days or sooner, and again in the event of recommitment, at 
the end of 60 days and one year 180 days, the State Forensic Service or other 
appropriate office of the Department of Health and Human Services shall forward a 
report to the Commissioner of Health and Human Services relative to the defendant's 
competence to stand trial and its reasons. The Commissioner of Health and Human 
Services shall without delay file the report with the court having jurisdiction of the 
case. The court shall vritfiout delay set a date for and hold a hearing on the question 
of the defendant's competence to stand trial and receive all relevant testimony bearing 
on the question. 
If the State Forensic Service's report or the report of another 
appropriate office of the Department of Health and Human Services to the court 
states that the defendant is either now competent or not restorable, the court shall 
within 30 days hold a hearing. If the court determines that the defendant is not 
competent to stand trial, but there does exist a substantial probability that the 
defendant will be competent to stand trial in the foreseeable future, the court shall 
recommit the defendant to the custody of the Commissioner of Health and Human 
Services to be plaeed in an for appropriate placement for observation, care and 
treatment in an institution for the care and treatment of people with mental illness ef 
in, an appropriate residential program that provides care and treatment for persons 
who have intellectual disabilities or autism for observation, eare and treatment, an 
intermediate care facility for persons who have intellectual disabilities or autism, a 
crisis stabilization unit, a nursing home, a residential care facility, an assisted living 
facility, a hospice, a hospital or any living situation specifically approved by the 
court. When a person who has been evaluated on behalf of the court by the State 
Forensic Service or other appropriate office of the Department of Health and Human 
Services is committed into the custody of the Commissioner of Health and Human 
Services under this paragraph, the court shall order that the State Forensic Service or 
other appropriate office of the Department of Health and Human Services share any 
information that it has collected or generated with respect to the person with the 
institution or residential program in which the person is placed. If the defendant is 
charged with an offense under Title 17-A, chapter 9, II or 13 or Title 17-A, section 
506-A, 802 or 803-A and the court determines that the defendant is not competent to 
stand trial and there does not exist a substantial probability that the defendant can be 
competent in the foreseeable future, the court shall dismiss all charges against the 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ·A" to H.P. 1022, L.D. 1433 
defendant and, unless the defendant is subject to an undischarged term of 
imprisonment, order the Commissioner of Health and Human Services to commence 
proceedings pursuant to Title 34-B, chapter 3, subchapter 4. 
If the defendant is 
charged with an offense other than an offense under Title 17 -A, chapter 9, 11 or 13 or 
Title 17-A, section 506-A, 802 or 803-A and the court determines that the defendant 
is not competent to stand trial and there does not exist a substantial probability that 
the defendant can be competent in the foreseeable future, the court shall dismiss all 
charges against the defendant and, unless the defendant is subject to an undischarged 
term of imprisonment, notify the appropriate authorities who may institute civil 
commitment proceedings for the individual. 
If the defendant is subject to an 
undischarged term of imprisonment, the court shall order the defendant into 
execution of that sentence and the correctional facility to which the defendant must 
be transported shall execute the court's order; or 
B. Issue a bail order in accordance with chapter 105-A, with or without the further 
order that the defendant undergo observation at a state meatal hospital or meatal 
health faeility an institution for the care and treatment of people with mental illness, 
an appropriate residential program that provides care and treatment for persons who 
have intellectual disabilities or autism, an intermediate care facility for persons who 
have intellectual disabilities or autism, a crisis stabilization unit, a nursing home, a 
residential care facility, an assisted living facility, a hospice, a hospital approved by 
the Department of Health and Human Services or a living situation specifically 
approved by the court or by arrangement with a private psychiatrist or licensed 
clinical psychologist and treatment when it is determined appropriate by the State 
Forensic Service. 
When outpatient observation and treatment is ordered an 
examination must take place within 45 days of the court's order and the State 
Forensic Service shall file its report of that examination within 60 days of the court's 
order. The State Forensic Service's report to the court must contain the opinion of the 
State Forensic Service concerning the defendant's competency to stand trial and its 
reasons. The court shall v/ithol:lt delay set a date fur and within 30 days hold a 
hearing on the question of the defendant's competence to stand trial, which must be 
held pursuant to and consistent with the standards set out in paragraph A.' 
Amend the bill in section 4 in subsection 2 in the last line (page 4, line 8 in L.D.) by 
inserting after the following: "section 103" the following: 'unless the court orders 
otherwise' 
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 5 and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 5. 15 MRSA §104-A, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2005, c. 263, §3, is further 
amended to read: 
2. Modified release treatment. Any individual committed pursuant to section 103 
may petition the Superior Court for the county in which that person is committed for a 
release treatment program allowing the individual to be off institutional grounds fer-a 
period of time, not to exeeed 14 days at anyone time if the individual is monitored by a 
multidisciplinary treatment team affiliated with the institution and meets face to face with 
a team member at least every 14 days and with a team member qualified to prescribe 
medication at least monthly. The petition must contain a report from the institutional 
staff, including at least one psychiatrist, and the report must define the patient's present 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT A 
"to H.P. 1022, L.D. 1433 
condition; the planned treatment program involving absence from the institution; the 
duration of the absence from the institution; the amount of supervision during the 
absence; the expectation of results from the program change; and the estimated duration 
of the treatment program before further change. This petition must be forwarded to the 
court no later than 60 days prior to the beginning of the modified treatment program. If 
the court considers that the individual being off the grounds, as described in the treatment 
plan, is inappropriate, it shall notify the hospital that the plan is not approved and shall 
schedule a hearing on the matter. The clerk of courts upon receipt of the proposed 
treatment program shall give notice of the receipt of this program by mailing a copy to 
the office of the district attorney that prosecuted the criminal charges for which the 
person was committed under section 103, the offices of the district attorneys in whose 
district the release petition was filed or in whose district release may occur and the 
Attorney General who may file objections and request a hearing on the matter. 
Representatives of the Attorney General and the office that prosecuted the person may 
appear at any hearing on the matter. At the hearing, the court shall receive the testimony 
of a member of the State Forensic Service who has examined the person, any independent 
psychiatrist or licensed clinical psychologist who is employed by the prosecutor and has 
examined the person and any other relevant testimony. If the court does not respond 
within 60 days to the proposed treatment plan and no objections and request for hearing 
are filed by the district attorney or Attorney General, it may then be put into effect by the 
administrator of the hospital on the assumption that the court approved the treatment plan. 
The Commissioner of Health and Human Services shall inform the public safety officer 
of the municipality or the sheriffs office of the county in which the person wiJI spend any 
unsupervised time under the release treatment program of that program. ' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment makes the following changes to the bill. 
1. The bill provides that, if a defendant has been incarcerated prior to commitment to 
the custody of the Commissioner of Health and Human Services for observation to 
determine the competency of the defendant to stand trial and during the period of 
observation the defendant assaults another person and the risk of a subsequent assault 
cannot be managed, the commissioner may return the defendant to the correctional 
facility. This amendment provides that the defendant need only present a substantial risk 
of causing bodily injury to staff or others instead of requiring an actual assault. 
2. The bill requires a court to terminate a defendant's commitment to the custody of 
the Commissioner of Health and Human Services after the commissioner notifies the 
court that the defendant is being returned to a correctional facility because the defendant 
assaulted another person and the risk of subsequent assaults cannot be managed. This 
amendment removes the mandatory language and gives the court discretion in 
determining what action should be taken regarding the defendant, including, but not 
limited to, the termination of the defendant's commitment. 
3. The amendment provides that if the State Forensic Service reports to the court that 
a defendant is either now competent to stand trial or not restorable, the court must hold a 
hearing on the matter within 30 days of the report. Current law provides that the court 
must schedule such a hearing without delay. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 1022, L.D. 1433 
I 
4. In addition to the places provided in the bill where the Commissioner of Health 
and Human Services is allowed to house a person committed as not competent to stand 
trial, this amendment allows the commissioner to place such a person in any living 
situation specifically approved by a court. 
5. The amendment provides that when a person serving a criminal sentence is found 
not criminally responsible for a subsequent crime, the court may exercise its discretion to 
detennine whether the defendant should be immediately committed to a mental health 
institution or whether the defendant should complete the sentence being served before 
being committed to the institution. This change accords section 4 of the bill with the Law 
Court's holding in James v. State, 2008 ME 122,953 A.2d 1152. 
6. 
The amendment provides that a person previously found not criminally 
responsible for a crime who has been committed to the custody of the Commissioner of 
Health and Human Services whose treatment plan allows that person to live off 
institutional grounds must meet with a member of a multidisciplinary treatment team 
affiliated with the institution at least every 14 days and with a team member qualified to 
prescribe medication at least monthly. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 05116/13 
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LD 1433 
LR 516(02) 
An Act To Amend the Laws Governing Mental Responsibility for Criminal Conduct 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee AmendmentA' (H .. J.07) 
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Minor cost increase - General Fund 
Correctional and Judicial Impact Statements 
Increases case-loads with no effect on fines or fees. 
LR0516(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1