(a) As soon as is practicable, the director of the Whiting Forensic Hospital shall act upon the examination reports of the director's staff. Upon review of each report and upon consideration of what is for the benefit of the patient and for the benefit of society, the director shall determine whether such patient: (1) Is to remain in the hospital for further treatment, or (2) has sufficiently improved to warrant discharge from the hospital, provided if such patient was sentenced and confined in the hospital under section 17a-567, such patient shall not be released except upon order of the court by which such patient was confined under said section, after notice to said court by the director. The director shall report each determination made under this subsection to the court by which the patient was confined in the hospital.
(b) If a report submitted by the director to the court under subsection (a) of this section recommends that the patient be returned to the custody of the Commissioner of Correction, the court shall set the matter for a hearing not later than fifteen days after receipt of such report.
(c) The court, upon its own motion or at the request of the patient or the patient's attorney, may at any time hold a hearing to determine whether such patient should be discharged from the hospital prior to the expiration of the maximum period of the patient's sentence. Prior to such hearing, the hospital shall file a report with the court concerning the patient's mental condition. The court may appoint a physician specializing in psychiatry to examine the patient and report to the court. Such hearing shall be held at least once every five years. If the court determines that the patient should be discharged from the hospital, the patient shall be returned to the custody of the Commissioner of Correction.
(1957, P.A. 650, S. 14; 1959, P.A. 332, S. 3; P.A. 73-245, S. 12; P.A. 80-470, S. 7, 11; P.A. 89-89; P.A. 95-257, S. 20, 58; P.A. 04-52, S. 1; P.A. 18-86, S. 42.)
History: 1959 act deleted requirement that board meet monthly to act on reports, substituting provision for action by director, deleted requirement for board acting as parole board, and provisions requiring compliance with Subdiv. (3) in case of persons sentenced, confined or transferred under Sec. 17-245 or 17-246 and added that, for person sentenced or confined under Sec. 17-245, discharge be only on order of court; P.A. 73-245 replaced “center”, i.e. security treatment center, with “institute”, i.e. Whiting Forensic Institute; P.A. 80-470 substituted “examination” for “reexamination” and “facility” for “institution”, deleted provisions detailing leaves of absence and extended visits in Subdiv. (2) and deleted provisions re return of discharged patient to institute from which transferred to serve out sentence and added Subsec. (b) re hearing to determine whether patient should be discharged; P.A. 89-89 deleted Subsec. (a)(3) re the authority of the director to determine that a patient be granted parole if such patient is under sentence and eligible for parole, redesignating former Subdiv. (4) as Subdiv. (3), and amended Subsec. (b) by replacing provision requiring court after it finds that a patient should be discharged to determine whether the patient should be released, granted parole or returned to the custody of the commissioner of correction with the requirement that such patient be returned to the custody of said commissioner; Sec. 17-251 transferred to Sec. 17a-570 in 1991; P.A. 95-257 replaced “institute” with “division”, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 04-52 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting provisions re transfer of patient to other facility under control of commissioner and re granting leave of absence or extended visit, adding provision re report of each determination to court by which patient was confined and making technical changes, added new Subsec. (b) re court hearing not later than 15 days after receipt of report and redesignated existing Subsec. (b) as Subsec. (c) and made technical changes therein; P.A. 18-86 amended Subsecs. (a) and (c) to replace “division” with “hospital”, effective June 4, 2018.
Annotations to former section 17-251:
Cited. 205 C. 27. Authorizes trial court to consider release of a sentenced patient upon discharge from Whiting despite apparent conflict with Sec. 53a-39. 210 C. 519.
Cited. 12 CA 32; 22 CA 199.
Annotations to present section:
Cited. 224 C. 168.
Cited. 29 CA 386.