Bill Text: TX SB725 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to procedures for identifying defendants suspected of having a mental illness or intellectual disability.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-01 - Referred to Criminal Justice [SB725 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-SB725-Introduced.html
  88R805 JTZ-F
 
  By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 725
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to procedures for identifying defendants suspected of
  having a mental illness or intellectual disability.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Article 16.22(a)(1), Code of Criminal Procedure,
  is amended to read as follows:
         (a)(1)  Not later than 12 hours after the sheriff or
  municipal jailer having custody of a defendant [for an offense
  punishable as a Class B misdemeanor or any higher category of
  offense] receives credible information that may establish
  reasonable cause to believe that the defendant has a mental illness
  or is a person with an intellectual disability, the sheriff or
  municipal jailer shall provide written or electronic notice to the
  magistrate. The notice must include any information related to the
  sheriff's or municipal jailer's determination, such as information
  regarding the defendant's behavior immediately before, during, and
  after the defendant's arrest and, if applicable, the results of any
  previous assessment of the defendant. On a determination that
  there is reasonable cause to believe that the defendant has a mental
  illness or is a person with an intellectual disability, the
  magistrate, except as provided by Subdivision (2), shall order the
  service provider that contracts with the jail to provide mental
  health or intellectual and developmental disability services, the
  local mental health authority, the local intellectual and
  developmental disability authority, or another qualified mental
  health or intellectual and developmental disability expert to:
                     (A)  interview the defendant if the defendant has
  not previously been interviewed by a qualified mental health or
  intellectual and developmental disability expert on or after the
  date the defendant was arrested for the offense for which the
  defendant is in custody and otherwise collect information regarding
  whether the defendant has a mental illness as defined by Section
  571.003, Health and Safety Code, or is a person with an intellectual
  disability as defined by Section 591.003, Health and Safety Code,
  including, if applicable, information obtained from any previous
  assessment of the defendant and information regarding any
  previously recommended treatment or service; and
                     (B)  provide to the magistrate a written report of
  an interview described by Paragraph (A) and the other information
  collected under that paragraph on the form approved by the Texas
  Correctional Office on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments
  under Section 614.0032(c), Health and Safety Code.
         SECTION 2.  Articles 16.22(b-2) and (d), Code of Criminal
  Procedure, are amended to read as follows:
         (b-2)  The written report must include a description of the
  procedures used in the interview and collection of other
  information under Subsection (a)(1)(A) and the applicable expert's
  observations and findings pertaining to:
               (1)  whether the defendant is a person who has a mental
  illness or is a person with an intellectual disability;
               (2)  subject to Article 46B.022, whether there is
  clinical evidence to support a belief that the defendant may be
  incompetent to stand trial and should undergo a complete competency
  examination under Subchapter B, Chapter 46B; and
               (3)  any appropriate or recommended treatment or
  service.
         (d)  This article does not prevent the applicable court from,
  before, during, or after the interview and collection of other
  information regarding the defendant as described by this article:
               (1)  releasing a defendant who has a mental illness or
  is a person with an intellectual disability from custody on
  personal or surety bond, including imposing as a condition of
  release that the defendant submit to an examination or other
  assessment; or
               (2)  subject to Article 46B.002, ordering an
  examination regarding the defendant's competency to stand trial.
         SECTION 3.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to a person who is arrested on or after the effective date of this
  Act. A person arrested before the effective date of this Act is
  governed by the law in effect on the date the person was arrested,
  and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
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