Colorado passes law on where competency evaluations are performed
HB16-1410 passed the legislature in April 2016 and was signed on May 4. It says evaluations must generally be done on an outpatient basis or where the defendant is held, and it lists five circumstances in which a person may instead be placed at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo, such as danger to self or others or clinical necessity.
The law also bars courts from using the existence of a competency evaluation as a reason to deny bond, requires sheriffs to make reasonable efforts to return defendants to jail promptly once an evaluation is finished, and stops the hospital from billing for evaluation costs. It appropriated just over $107,000 to the Department of Human Services for implementation.
Source: HB16-1410 Competency Evaluation Location — Colorado General Assembly
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