(a) (1) If the medical director of a state hospital, a person designated by the State Department of State Hospitals at an entity contracted by the department to provide services to a defendant prior to placement in a treatment program or other facility to which the defendant is committed, or the community program director, county mental health director, or regional center director providing outpatient services, determines that the defendant has regained mental competence, the director or designee shall immediately certify that fact to the court by filing a certificate of restoration with the court by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by confidential electronic transmission. This shall include any certificate of restoration filed by the State Department of State Hospitals based on an evaluation conducted pursuant to § 4335.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. For purposes of this section, the date of filing shall be the date on the return receipt.

(2) The court’s order committing an individual to a State Department of State Hospitals facility or other treatment facility pursuant to Section 1370 shall include direction that the sheriff shall redeliver the patient to the court without any further order from the court upon receiving from the state hospital or treatment facility a copy of the certificate of restoration.

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(3) The defendant shall be returned to the committing court in the following manner, except that a defendant in county custody that the State Department of State Hospitals has evaluated pursuant to § 4335.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code and filed a certificate of restoration with the court shall remain in county custody:

(A) A patient who remains confined in a state hospital or other treatment facility shall be redelivered to the sheriff of the county from which the patient was committed. The sheriff shall immediately return the person from the state hospital or other treatment facility to the court for further proceedings.

(B) The patient who is on outpatient status shall be returned by the sheriff to court through arrangements made by the outpatient treatment supervisor.

(C) In all cases, the patient shall be returned to the committing court no later than 10 days following the filing of a certificate of restoration. The state shall only pay for 10 hospital days for patients following the filing of a certificate of restoration of competency. The State Department of State Hospitals shall report to the fiscal and appropriate policy committees of the Legislature on an annual basis in February, on the number of days that exceed the 10-day limit prescribed in this subparagraph. This report shall include, but not be limited to, a data sheet that itemizes by county the number of days that exceed this 10-day limit during the preceding year.

(b) If the defendant becomes mentally competent after a conservatorship has been established pursuant to the applicable provisions of the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, Part 1 (commencing with Section 5000) of Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, and Section 1370, the conservator shall certify that fact to the sheriff and district attorney of the county in which the defendant’s case is pending, defendant’s attorney of record, and the committing court.

(c)  (1)  When a defendant is returned to court with a certification that competence has been regained, including a certification of restoration provided pursuant to § 4335.2 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, the court shall notify either the community program director, the county mental health director, the State Department of State Hospitals, or the regional center director and the Director of Developmental Services, as appropriate, of the date of any hearing on the defendant’s competence and whether or not the defendant was found by the court to have recovered competence.

(2) If the court rejects a certificate of restoration, the court shall base its rejection on a written report of an evaluation, conducted by a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, that the defendant is not competent. The evaluation shall be conducted after the certificate of restoration is filed with the committing court and in compliance with Section 1369. A copy of the written report shall be provided to the department pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 1370. The court shall also provide a copy of the court order or minute order rejecting the certification of restoration to the department, pursuant to clause (ii) of subparagraph (C) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 1370, including any minute orders continuing the hearing for the court’s determination.

(d) If the committing court approves the certificate of restoration to competence as to a person in custody, the court shall notify the State Department of State Hospitals by providing the State Department of State Hospitals with a copy of the court order or minute order approving the certificate of restoration to competence. The court shall hold a hearing to determine whether the person is entitled to be admitted to bail or released on own recognizance status pending conclusion of the proceedings. If the superior court approves the certificate of restoration to competence regarding a person on outpatient status, unless it appears that the person has refused to come to court, that person shall remain released either on own recognizance status, or, in the case of a developmentally disabled person, either on the defendant’s promise or on the promise of a responsible adult to secure the person’s appearance in court for further proceedings. If the person has refused to come to court, the court shall set bail and may place the person in custody until bail is posted.

(e) A defendant subject to either subdivision (a) or (b) who is not admitted to bail or released under subdivision (d) may, at the discretion of the court, upon recommendation of the director of the facility where the defendant is receiving treatment, be returned to the hospital or facility of their original commitment or other appropriate secure facility approved by the community program director, the county mental health director, or the regional center director. The recommendation submitted to the court shall be based on the opinion that the person will need continued treatment in a hospital or treatment facility in order to maintain competence to stand trial or that placing the person in a jail environment would create a substantial risk that the person would again become incompetent to stand trial before criminal proceedings could be resumed.

(f) Notwithstanding subdivision (e), if a defendant is returned by the court to a hospital or other facility for the purpose of maintaining competency to stand trial and that defendant is already under civil commitment to that hospital or facility from another county pursuant to the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (Part 1 (commencing with Section 5000) of Division 5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code) or as a developmentally disabled person committed pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section 6500) of Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 6 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, the costs of housing and treating the defendant in that facility following return pursuant to subdivision (e) shall be the responsibility of the original county of civil commitment.

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 47, Sec. 45. (SB 184) Effective June 30, 2022.)