HB385: AN ACT relating to mental capacity.

Legislative Summary

Amends KRS 311.631, relating to living wills and advance directives, to include an adult friend as an individual authorized to make health care decisions on behalf of a patient who lacks decisional capacity; amends KRS 504.060 to define “examiner” and “secretary”; amends KRS 504.070 to allow a defendant to introduce evidence of an intellectual disability bearing on the issue of guilt, punishment, or both, and to require, if a court orders an examination of the defendant’s mental condition, that the condition be reported to the court; amends KRS 504.080 to establish reasons the court may order an examination of the defendant’s mental health, to establish criteria for the examination, to establish what the court may order if the examiner concludes the defendant needs an inpatient examination, to establish that the examiner shall submit a report regarding the defendant’s mental health, to establish that the examiner’s report shall be placed under seal with a notice of filing, and to establish that the court shall schedule a status conference or a hearing within 30 days of the filing of the report; amends KRS 504.100 to establish that the court shall order the defendant to be examined for his or her mental condition if the court has reasonable grounds to believe the defendant is incompetent to stand trial and to require that the court schedule a status conference or a hearing within 30 days after the filing of the report; amends KRS 504.110 to conform; and provides that the Act may be cited as Seth’s Law.