Georgia's forensic agency publishes a toolkit to help courts cut delays in competency hearings
The toolkit says it was developed from April 2024 to April 2025 by retired Judge Kathlene Gosselin and the state forensic director with the Center for Justice Innovation, following the work of the state's Behavioral Health Reform and Innovation Commission. It targets lawyers and judges.
It names four problems: delays in evaluations and placements, scarce resources, evaluation requests made to get treatment rather than answer a competency question, and poor coordination among defense, prosecution and clinicians. It walks through Georgia's hearing procedure and suggests alternatives such as competency dockets and mental health courts.
It is a policy resource rather than news, but it shows Georgia officials framing competency delay as a system problem requiring court-side fixes.
Source: Georgia Competency to Stand Trial Toolkit — Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, by Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, with the Center for Justice Innovation
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