HF 2293

as introduced - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to human services; exempting persons
committed as mentally ill from criminal liability;
amending Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 611.026.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 611.026, is
amended to read:

611.026 CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY OF MENTALLY ILL OR
DEFICIENT.

new text begin (a) new text end No person shall be tried, sentenced, or punished for
any crime while mentally ill or mentally deficient so as to be
incapable of understanding the proceedings or making a defense;
but the person shall not be excused from criminal liability
except upon proof that at the time of committing the alleged
criminal act the person was laboring under such a defect of
reason, from one of these causes, as not to know the nature of
the act, or that it was wrong.

new text begin (b) A person who commits a crime while committed as
mentally ill under chapter 253B and confined in a regional
treatment center or hospital for treatment of the person's
mental illness shall be excused from criminal liability. The
person shall not be removed from the treatment facility and the
medical treatment the person is receiving. Upon further
assessment, the person may be placed in a more secure unit in
the treatment facility or another treatment facility equipped to
provide the care and services the person needs.
new text end