Senate Bills 0246 and 0247 amend the Juvenile Code and the Mental Health Code, respectively, to do the following regarding juveniles subject to a delinquency petition:
– Establish a presumption of competence to proceed for a juvenile who was 10 years of age or older, and a presumption of incompetence for a juvenile who was under 10.
– Allow a court to order, or a party to request, a competency evaluation to determine whether a juvenile was incompetent to proceed if he or she were charged as a juvenile in court.
– Establish standards for conducting a competency evaluation of a juvenile, including a requirement that an evaluation be conducted by a qualified forensic mental health examiner.
Approved by governor June 25th; assigned PA 0247’12 with immediate effect. Link to Bill Page
Comment Guidelines:
Comments that are off-topic, attacking without a constructive purpose, offensive (including abbreviated or masked swearing), written in all capital letters (viewed as shouting), and/or for commercial purposes, may be blocked by our website team.