An Act to Ensure Continuity of Care for Pretrial Defendants
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 0118
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: CARNEY
Amends: 15 MRSA §101-D

Legislative Document
No. 118
S.P. 57
In Senate, January 9, 2023
An Act to Ensure Continuity of Care for Pretrial Defendants
Submitted by the Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to Joint Rule 204.
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator CARNEY of Cumberland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  15 MRSA §101-D, sub-§4, ¶B, as amended by PL 2013, c. 265, §1, is 
further amended to read:
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 
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 Commissioner of Health and Human 
Services shall report that determination to the court and the court shall terminate the 
commitment.  If the defendant is committed by the court to the custody of the 
Commissioner of Health and Human Services for observation under this paragraph, the 
State Forensic Service may release prior court-ordered evaluation reports pertaining to 
the pending charges, unless otherwise impounded, to the institution or residential 
program into which the defendant is placed by the Commissioner of Health and Human 
Services.  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 Commissioner of Health and 
Human Services may return the defendant to the correctional facility.  The 
commissioner Commissioner of Health and Human Services 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.
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes the State Forensic Service to disclose prior court-ordered 
evaluation reports pertaining to the pending changes of pretrial defendants to institutions 
for the care and treatment of people with mental illness or residential programs that provide 
care and treatment for persons who have intellectual disabilities or autism when the court 
commits a defendant to the Commissioner of Health and Human Services for observation 
in such an institution or program.