South Carolina law lets the mental health department provide competency restoration in jails and outpatient settings
The act amends the state mental health code to add a definition of restoration treatment and revises the fitness-to-stand-trial statute to extend to 180 days the period certain people found unfit may be hospitalized for restoration. It also allows the Department of Mental Health, with the required approvals, to provide restoration treatment in detention centers and on an outpatient basis in certain circumstances.
The bill was introduced in the House in January 2021, passed the House 113-0, was amended by the Senate Judiciary Committee in March 2022, passed the General Assembly on April 20, 2022 and was signed on April 25, 2022. The bill page does not describe how the department has implemented the new authority.
Source: 2021-2022 Bill 3773: Fitness to stand trial — South Carolina Legislature Online, by South Carolina General Assembly
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