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132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST SPECIAL SESSION-2025
Legislative Document No. 1416S.P. 562 In Senate, April 1, 2025
An Act to Require the Department of Health and Human Services to
Immediately Take Custody of Persons Sentenced to Mental Health
Facilities That May Not Include County or Regional Jails
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator TALBOT ROSS of Cumberland.
Cosponsored by Representative PERKINS of Dover-Foxcroft and
Senators: BEEBE-CENTER of Knox, CYRWAY of Kennebec, HARRINGTON of York,
MOORE of Washington, Representatives: ABDI of Lewiston, DAIGLE of Fort Kent,
DEBRITO of Waterville, JAVNER of Chester. Page 1 - 132LR2388(01)
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2 as amended by PL 2023, c. 38, §1, is further
3 amended to read:
4 B. Upon a determination by the State Forensic Service under paragraph A, a court
5 having jurisdiction in a criminal case may commit the defendant to the custody of the
6 Commissioner of Health and Human Services for immediate placement in an
7 appropriate institution for the care and treatment of people with mental illness or in an
8 appropriate residential program that provides care and treatment for persons who have
9 intellectual disabilities or autism for observation for a period not to exceed 60 days. If
10 the State Forensic Service requires additional time for observation, it shall
11 communicate its request and the reasons for that request to the court and to counsel for
12 the parties. The court shall accommodate a party's request to be heard on the issue of
13 whether an extension should be granted and may extend the commitment for up to an
14 additional 90 days. Unless the defendant objects, an order under this paragraph must
15 authorize the institution or residential program where the defendant is placed by the
16 Commissioner of Health and Human Services to provide treatment to the defendant.
17 When further observation of the defendant is determined no longer necessary by the
18 State Forensic Service, the Commissioner of Health and Human Services shall report
19 that determination to the court and the court shall terminate the commitment. If the
20 defendant is committed by the court to the custody of the Commissioner of Health and
21 Human Services for observation under this paragraph, the State Forensic Service may
22 release prior court-ordered evaluation reports pertaining to the pending charges, unless
23 otherwise impounded, to each institution or residential program into which the
24 Commissioner of Health and Human Services is considering placing the defendant and,
25 following placement, to the institution or residential program into which the defendant
26 is placed. If the defendant had been incarcerated prior to the commitment for
27 observation and if, during the period of observation, the defendant presents a
28 substantial risk of causing bodily injury to staff or others that cannot be managed in an
29 appropriate institution for the care and treatment of people with mental illness or in an
30 appropriate residential program that provides care and treatment for persons who have
31 intellectual disabilities or autism, the Commissioner of Health and Human Services
32 may return the defendant to the a state correctional facility but not to a county or
33 regional jail. The Commissioner of Health and Human Services shall report the risk
34 management issues to the court. Upon receiving the report, the court shall review the
35 report and may enter any order authorized by this section, including termination of the
36 commitment. For the purposes of this paragraph, "institution" and "residential
37 program" do not include a county or regional jail.
38 as amended by PL 2021, c. 306, §1, is
39 further amended to read:
40 A. Commit the defendant to the custody of the Commissioner of Health and Human
41 Services for immediate placement in an appropriate program for observation, care and
42 treatment of people with mental illness or persons with intellectual disabilities or
43 autism. An appropriate program may must be in an institution for the care and
44 treatment of people with mental illness, an intermediate care facility for persons who
45 have intellectual disabilities or autism, a crisis stabilization unit, a nursing home, a Page 2 - 132LR2388(01)
46 residential care facility, an assisted living facility, a hospice, a hospital, an intensive
47 outpatient treatment program or any program specifically approved by the court, which
48 may not include a county or regional jail. At the end of 30 days or sooner, and again
49 in the event of recommitment, at the end of 60 days and 180 days, the State Forensic
50 Service or other appropriate office of the Department of Health and Human Services
51 shall forward a report to the Commissioner of Health and Human Services relative to
52 the defendant's competence to stand trial and its reasons. The Commissioner of Health
53 and Human Services shall without delay file the report with the court having
54 jurisdiction of the case. The court shall hold a hearing on the question of the
55 defendant's competence to stand trial and receive all relevant testimony bearing on the
56 question. If the State Forensic Service's report or the report of another appropriate
57 office of the Department of Health and Human Services to the court states that the
58 defendant is either now competent or not restorable, the court shall within 30 days hold
59 a hearing. If the court determines that the defendant is not competent to stand trial, but
60 there does exist a substantial probability that the defendant will be competent to stand
61 trial in the foreseeable future, the court shall recommit the defendant to the custody of
62 the Commissioner of Health and Human Services for immediate placement in an
63 appropriate program for observation, care and treatment of people with mental illness
64 or persons with intellectual disabilities or autism. An appropriate program may must
65 be in an institution for the care and treatment of people with mental illness, an
66 intermediate care facility for persons who have intellectual disabilities or autism, a
67 crisis stabilization unit, a nursing home, a residential care facility, an assisted living
68 facility, a hospice, a hospital, an intensive outpatient treatment program or any program
69 specifically approved by the court, which may not include a county or regional jail.
70 When a person who has been evaluated on behalf of the court by the State Forensic
71 Service or other appropriate office of the Department of Health and Human Services is
72 committed into the custody of the Commissioner of Health and Human Services under
73 this paragraph, the court shall order that the State Forensic Service or other appropriate
74 office of the Department of Health and Human Services share any information that it
75 has collected or generated with respect to the person with the institution or residential
76 program in which the person is placed; or
32 as enacted by PL 2021, c. 757, §1, is amended
33 to read:
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35 the Commissioner of Health and Human Services for placement in an appropriate
36 institution for the care and treatment of persons with mental illness or in an appropriate
37 residential program that provides care and treatment for persons who have intellectual
38 disabilities or autism as set forth in subsection 4 or 5, the transfer of the defendant must
39 take place within 30 days from the time the order is transmitted to the State Forensic
40 Service, unless an extraordinary circumstance causes a necessary delay. The Commissioner
41 of Health and Human Services shall notify the court of the extraordinary circumstance
42 causing a delay.
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2 This bill requires that when a court commits a defendant to the Commissioner of Health
3 and Human Services for placement in an appropriate mental health institution, that
4 placement must be immediate and may not be in a county or regional jail.
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