WHEREAS, the Hawaii Disability Rights Center studied a pretrial detainees who were the subject of court-ordered forensic examinations in 2001 and 2002; and

WHEREAS, in response to concerns raised in this study, the Legislature has considered various measures aimed at streamlining the forensic evaluation process; and

WHEREAS, one particular source of delay which has been acknowledged is the inadequate compensation paid to the psychiatrists and psychologists who conduct the forensic evaluations; and

WHEREAS, this results in a lack of available professionals willing to undertake this function, thereby contributing substantially to the lengthy evaluation process; and

WHEREAS, the fee for forensic evaluations is currently set by Circuit Court Part D Criminal Administrative Order No. 4.1 at $500; and

WHEREAS, this fee is a flat fee which does not take into account the number of hours devoted to conducting the evaluation; and

WHEREAS, this fee has not been raised by the Judiciary since 1992; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature believes that if the fee were increased to an appropriate level of compensation, more professionals would be willing to conduct these evaluations, thereby expediting the process;

WHEREAS, while the Adult Mental Health Division of the Department of Health currently certifies those psychiatrists or psychologists who are appointed by the court to conduct forensic evaluations, the Department of Health has no statutory authority to monitor the quality or consistency of the reports; and

WHEREAS, this lack of a formal mechanism for the Department of Health to receive or review the examination reports further hinders the identification of the causes of delays in the evaluation process; and

WHEREAS, if the Department of Health could review the forensic reports, it could better monitor the overall system of mental health examinations, provide quality control oversight, and ensure that the reports are thorough, more consistent, and timely; and

WHEREAS, while there is no statutory mandate for the court to provide copies of the forensic reports to the Department of Health, neither is there a statutory prohibition; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, that the Legislature requests that the Judiciary evaluate and increase the fees for forensic evaluations to an adequate level as it determines and to submit as part of its biennium budget request to the next Legislature an appropriation request sufficient to provide for any additional expenditures required as a result thereof; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature requests the Judiciary to provide, at the conclusion of the proceeding, a copy of the forensic evaluation report and any supporting documents to the Chief of Forensics of the Adult Mental Health Division of the Department of Health for the purposes of quality control; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chief Justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court, the Chief of Forensics of the Adult Mental Health Division of the Department of Health, the Hawaii Psychiatric Association, the Hawaii Psychology Association, and the Hawaii Disability Rights Center.

Report Title: Court-ordered forensic evaluations; mental health treatment