Washington state law requires that a defendant be mentally competent to stand trial.
Washington has adopted the Dusky Standard definition which means the defendant must have a rational and factual understanding of the charges and the penalties associated with the charges against them. They must be able to meaningfully assist their attorney in their own defense.
When competence is questioned, the court may order a competency evaluation. Our office performs these specialized competency evaluations in jails, communities and at the Behavioral Health and Habilitation Administration’s state hospitals and competency restoration programs.
If you have questions about your client’s competency evaluation, contact ofmhscourtorders@dshs.wa.gov
21-Day Competency Check
The 21-day competency check process allows a defendant in custody to be screened regarding an improvement in their clinical status. This may require a new competency evaluation while the person is awaiting inpatient restoration services.
The referring courts, prosecutors, or assigned defense attorneys may request a 21-day competency check for a defendant who is in jail for more than 21 days after receiving a court order awaiting inpatient forensic services from DSHS if they believe the person’s psychiatric symptoms have improved and a status check is warranted.
Forensic Evaluators
Forensic evaluators deliver opinions to the courts regarding the mental state and psychological functioning of defendants facing charges. The approximately 96 forensic evaluators employed by OFMHS are doctoral-level psychologists with additional training and expertise in the specialized field of the application of psychological principles to the courtroom. The forensic evaluators assist in the delivery of services that help ensure that the rights afforded to defendants by state law and the U.S. Constitution are maintained and the safety of the public is recognized. Some of the important duties performed by forensic evaluators include, but are not limited to:
· Conducting forensic competency to stand trial, mental state at the time of the offense evaluations, risk assessments, and other court-ordered reports for the courts of Washington state.
· Collecting data such as treatment, education, criminal, and social histories to include in evaluations.
· Administering, scoring, interpreting, and reporting the results of psychological testing.
· Submitting evaluation reports addressing the legal questions raised to the court.
· Preparing for and providing expert witness testimony regarding forensic evaluations or as requested or subpoenaed by the courts.
Forensic evaluators are held to high professional expectations and successfully share their work, done at national best-practices standards, in municipal, district, superior and tribal courtrooms around the state. Furthermore, outside of evaluations, forensic evaluators bring the same high level of expectations, knowledge, and skill to the various training programs offered to interns, practicum students, and post-doctoral fellows.
Catchment Areas
Under BHHA Office of Forensic Mental Health Services, the state is divided into various major regions responsible for completing evaluations in county jails, in local communities, and at state facilities.
The Eastern Regional Office is centered in Spokane. Evaluators stationed in the Eastern catchment area, comprised of the 20 counties east of the Cascade Mountains, complete evaluations in the jails located in each county.
For the 19 counties located in the Western catchment areas, evaluations are completed in the following areas:
The Southern Regional Office and the Outstation Office services Clark, Skamania, Cowlitz, Pacific, Grays Harbor, Mason, Thurston, Lewis, Kitsap, Jefferson and Clallam counties, with evaluators stationed in Clark, Thurston, Mason and Kitsap counties. Furthermore, this group also conducts evaluations at the Steilacoom Unit.
The Central Regional Office completes evaluations for courts in Pierce County and in one location in King County (South Correctional Entity, of SCORE) and one Thurston County location (Nisqually Jail).
The Northern Regional Office provides evaluation services to courts in King, Skagit, Snohomish, Whatcom, Island, and San Juan counties.
Inpatient Forensic Evaluation Services provide evaluations to defendants sent to state facilities (Western and Eastern State Hospital) for competency restoration treatment, and forensic risk assessments for those adjudicated not guilty by reason of insanity.
Out of custody evaluations are done for defendants who have been released into the community on personal recognizance or have been ordered into outpatient competency restoration. Evaluators interview those defendants at attorneys’ offices, courthouses, or other locations in the community.
Defense-retained evaluations are conducted in the community, not by DSHS evaluators. They may be ordered by courts and are reimbursed by DSHS, per WAC 388-875-0040.
The rates of reimbursement are set in a fee schedule that is determined fair and reasonable by the secretary. Fees are reviewed by OFMHS at least annually and adjusted at the discretion of OFMHS. Please refer questions regarding the procedure for billing DSHS for reimbursement to dshs-bha-ofmhsbilling@dshs.wa.gov.