West Virginia enacts competency law with 90-day restoration check and 180/240-day caps
The enrolled bill passed by the West Virginia Legislature on April 10, 2021 restructures how the state handles criminal competency and criminal responsibility. It lets an initial forensic evaluation take place at a state mental health facility or hospital under certain circumstances and sets qualifications for the psychiatrists and psychologists who perform them.
For restoration, evaluators must assess whether a defendant can attain competency within 90 days. Defendants charged with nonviolent offenses must be released after 180 days or the maximum sentence if they are not substantially likely to be restored, with charges dismissed without prejudice. For violent charges the cap is 240 days of restoration treatment, followed by release to the least restrictive setting with charges held in abeyance. The bill also creates a Dangerousness Assessment Review Board for people acquitted by reason of mental illness and took effect 90 days after passage, on July 9, 2021.
The law is the main statutory change to West Virginia's competency system during this period.
Source: An Act relating to criminal competency and criminal responsibility of persons charged with or found not guilty of a crime by reason of mental illness — West Virginia Legislature
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