2013 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 13 - Courts and Judicial Procedure
RS 13:5356 - Procedure; screening and assessment

§5356. Procedure; screening and assessment

A.(1) The court shall require an eligibility screening and an assessment of the defendant.

(2) If a valid assessment related to the present charge pending against the defendant has been completed within the previous sixty days, the eligibility and assessment need not be ordered.

B. When appropriate, the imposition of execution of sentence shall be postponed while the defendant is enrolled in the treatment program. As long as the defendant complies with the conditions of his agreement, he shall remain on probation. At the conclusion of the period of probation, the district attorney, on advice of the person providing the probationer's treatment and the probation officer, may recommend that the mental health division take one of the following courses of action:

(1) That the probationer's probation be revoked and the probationer be sentenced if the probationer has not successfully completed the treatment or has violated one or more of the conditions of his probation; or, if already sentenced, that the probation be revoked and the probationer be remanded to the appropriate custodian for service of that sentence.

(2) That the period of probation be extended so that the probationer may continue the program.

(3) That the probationer's conviction be set aside and the prosecution dismissed if the probationer has successfully completed all the conditions of his probation and his treatment agreement. The district attorney shall make the final determination as to whether to request revocation, extension or dismissal.

C. The judge shall inform the defendant that if the defendant fails to meet the requirements of the mental health court treatment program, eligibility to participate in the program may be revoked. Such revocation would result in the defendant being sentenced.

D. The defendant shall execute a written document which shall contain all of the following criteria:

(1) An agreement to participate in the mental health court treatment program.

(2) An agreement to all terms and conditions of the program, including but not limited to the possibility of sanctions or incarceration for failing to abide by or comply with the terms of the program.

E.(1) The court may order a defendant enrolled in a program authorized by this Chapter to complete mental health or substance abuse treatment in an outpatient, inpatient, residential, or jail-based custodial treatment program.

(2) Any period of time a defendant shall serve in a jail-based treatment program may not be reduced by the accumulation of good time or other credits.

F. The mental health court program may include a regimen of graduated requirements and rewards and sanctions, including but not limited to the following:

(1) Fines.

(2) Fees.

(3) Costs.

(4) Restitution.

(5) Incarceration of not more than one hundred eighty days.

(6) Individual and group therapy.

(7) Medication.

(8) Supervision of progress.

(9) Educational or vocational counseling, as appropriate.

(10) Any other reasonable requirements necessary to complete the mental health court program.

Acts 2013, No. 346, §1.