Criminal procedure: competence to stand trial.

Existing law specifies a process for declaring a defendant who is charged with a felony to be mentally incompetent to stand trial. Existing law requires the court to order that the mentally incompetent defendant be delivered by the sheriff to a State Department of State Hospitals facility or to any other available public or private treatment facility that meets stated specifications, or placed on outpatient status. This bill would authorize a court to order a defendant who is charged with a felony and who is not in the custody of the sheriff to self-surrender to a State Department of State Hospitals facility at a specific date and time. The bill would also require the State Department of State Hospitals to provide a patient who self-surrenders to a state hospital with notice directing the defendant to appear in court at a specific date and time.