FL S1712

Authorizes continuation of psychotherapeutic medication for individuals transferred from jail to psychiatric or forensic facilities if the patient lacks capacity to consent and abrupt cessation poses health risks, with the jail physician providing current medication orders at transfer.

Requires mental health experts appointed to evaluate defendants for competency or sanity to complete forensic evaluator training; establishes that experts must complete training within 5 years and retake it every 5 years to remain on the Department's forensic evaluator registry.

Mandates competency hearings be held within 30 days after a court receives notification that a defendant is competent to proceed or no longer meets commitment criteria.

Standardizes protocols and procedures for competency evaluations in juvenile delinquency cases, requiring expert reports to include specific findings on the child's mental condition, diagnostic basis, and recommended treatment using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Effective July 1, 2013, court-appointed experts in juvenile competency cases must have completed approved forensic evaluator training and comply with 5-year recertification requirements.