Date: 03/08/2006

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB06-1080

SENATE COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
Moved to place House Bill 06-1080 on the consent c
Refer House Bill 06-1080 to the Committee of the W		TIE
PASS


03:15 PM -- House Bill 06-1080

Senator Grossman, sponsor, presented House Bill 06-1080 concerning authorizing forensically trained doctoral-level mental health professionals to conduct competency examinations for adult charged with crimes. The bill extends to licensed psychologists the authority to conduct competency examinations for adults charged with crimes. It extends to psychologists and psychiatrists who are working under a licensed psychiatrist or licensed psychologist the authority to conduct said competency examinations.

03:18 PM -- Chad Morris, Colorado Psychological Association, spoke in favor of the bill. Dr. Morris discussed the issue of competency of defendants in a criminal trial and the difficulties in making a determination of competence. There is a backlog of individuals waiting for competency evaluations and the bill would provide explicit authority for licensed, doctoral-level psychologists to perform such evaluations. He stated that his organization has worked with the Colorado District Attorneys Council on this bill. Dr. Morris responded to questions from the committee regarding

03:23 PM -- Steve Schoenmakers, Colorado Department of Human Services, spoke in favor of the bill. Mr. Schoenmakers distributed written testimony to the committee (Attachment E). He stressed that using psychologists to do competency evaluations is common practice, but this bill codifies that practice in law. He talked about the problems faced by the department in finding enough psychiatrists to do competency evaluations. Also, he stated that psychologists charge less to do evaluations and that is a good value for the state.

03:29 PM -- George Kalousek, Colorado Psychiatric Society, spoke in support of the bill. Dr. Kalousek stated that well-qualified psychologists who have special training are very capable of doing competency evaluations.

03:34 PM -- Maureen Cain, Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, spoke in support of the bill.

03:35 PM -- Dave Thomas, Colorado District Attorneys Council, spoke in opposition to the bill. Mr. Thomas stated that the district attorneys oppose this bill because they have historically been disappointed with the standards of criminal competency evaluations and this bill simply sets those poor standards in statute. Mr. Thomas responded to questions from the committee regarding the shortage of qualified psychiatrists to do such evaluations.


03:39 PM
BILL:HB06-1080
TIME: 03:39:15 PM
MOVED:Grossman
MOTION:Refer House Bill 06-1080 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation. The motion passed on a vote of 7-0.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Bacon
Yes
Dyer
Yes
Gordon
Yes
Mitchell
Yes
Traylor
Yes
Shaffer
Yes
Grossman
Yes
Final YES: 7 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS
BILL:HB06-1080
TIME: 03:39:34 PM
MOVED:Bacon
MOTION:Moved to place House Bill 06-1080 on the consent calendar. There was objection to the motion.
SECONDED:
VOTE
Bacon
Dyer
Gordon
Mitchell
Traylor
Shaffer
Grossman
Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAILED


03:39 PM

Senator Shaffer adjourned the committee.