§ 15 §106 — Involuntary medication of incompetent defendant

1.
Definition.
As used in this section, "commissioner" means the Commissioner of Health and Human Services or the commissioner's designee.
2.
Notice required; contents.
At any time after a defendant has been found incompetent to proceed and has been committed to the custody of the commissioner under section 101-D, subsection 5, the commissioner shall notify the court, prosecuting attorney and attorney for the defendant if the commissioner has determined that the defendant is not consenting to or responding to treatment and is unlikely to be restored to competency without the administration of psychiatric medication over the defendant's objection. The commissioner shall provide this notice only if there is no basis for involuntarily medicating the defendant other than to restore the defendant's competency. The commissioner shall state in the notice whether the commissioner believes that:
3.
Court authorization.
The following provisions govern court authorization for the involuntary medication of a defendant under this section.
4.
Findings; order.
If the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the involuntary administration of psychiatric medication to a defendant under this section is necessary and appropriate, it shall make findings addressing each of the factors in subsection 3, paragraph B and shall issue an order authorizing the administration of psychiatric medication to the defendant over the defendant's objection in order to restore the defendant to competency. When issuing the order, the court may order that medication may be administered by more intrusive methods only if the defendant has refused administration by less intrusive methods. The court may order that the commissioner report to the court within a reasonable period following entry of the order as to whether the authorized treatment remains appropriate.
5.
Application.
This section applies only if the prosecuting attorney seeks an order of involuntary medication for the purpose of rendering a defendant competent to proceed.

Legislative History

PL 2015, c. 325, §1 (NEW).