AB 1897: Mentally disordered offenders: criteria for commitment.

Existing law requires that, as a condition of parole, a prisoner who has a severe mental health disorder be treated by the State Department of State Hospitals if the prisoner meets certain requirements, including, among others, that the person in charge of treating the prisoner and a practicing psychiatrist or psychologist from the State Department of State Hospitals have evaluated the prisoner and that a chief psychiatrist of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation certify to the Board of Parole Hearings that by reason of the prisoners severe mental health disorder, the prisoner represents a substantial danger of physical harm to others. Existing law allows a prisoner to request a hearing before the Board of Parole Hearings for the purpose of proving that they meet the criteria to be treated by the State Department of State Hospitals. Existing law authorizes a prisoner who disagrees with the determination of the Board of Parole Hearings to file a petition in court in the county in which they are incarcerated or are being treated for a hearing on whether they met the criteria.

This bill would require a psychiatrist or psychologist, when determining whether a prisoner represents a substantial danger of physical harm to others, to consider, among other things, the prisoners history of violence that was related to their severe mental health disorder.

The bill would also authorize the court, upon stipulation of the petitioner, prosecuting attorney, and defense counsel in the county of commitment to state prison, to conduct a hearing in the county of commitment to state prison.