(a) At any time the court or the board determines that the acquittee is a person who should be confined, it shall make a further determination of whether the acquittee is so violent as to require confinement under conditions of maximum security. Any acquittee found so violent as to require confinement under conditions of maximum security shall not be confined in any hospital for psychiatric disabilities or placed with the Commissioner of Developmental Services unless such hospital or said commissioner has the trained and equipped staff, facilities or security to accommodate such acquittee.
(b) The Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services may transfer any acquittee who requires (1) confinement under conditions of maximum security pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, and (2) medical treatment that is unavailable in the maximum security environment or would constitute a safety hazard to the acquittee or others due to the use of certain medical equipment or material, to a facility that can provide such medical treatment, provided (A) the commissioner ensures that the conditions of custody of the acquittee at such facility are and remain equivalent to conditions of maximum security, (B) the commissioner provides immediate written justification to the board upon such transfer, and (C) transfer of the acquittee back to the maximum security setting occurs upon completion of the medical treatment.
(P.A. 85-506, S. 20, 32; P.A. 87-486, S. 12; P.A. 95-257, S. 48, 58; P.A. 07-73, S. 2(b); P.A. 17-179, S. 1.)
History: P.A. 87-486 added reference to an acquittee placed with the commissioner of mental retardation; Sec. 17-257t transferred to Sec. 17a-599 in 1991; P.A. 95-257 substituted “psychiatric disabilities” for “mental illness”, effective July 1, 1995; pursuant to P.A. 07-73 “Commissioner of Mental Retardation” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Developmental Services”, effective October 1, 2007; P.A. 17-179 designated existing provisions re determination of whether acquittee is so violent as to require confinement under maximum security as Subsec. (a) and added Subsec. (b) re transfer of acquittee for medical treatment.
Nothing in section limits board's discretion re placement of acquittees who are not found to be so violent as to require maximum security confinement, thus section does not contemplate that only “so violent” acquittees may be confined under conditions of maximum security, and therefore regulation re maximum security confinement for acquittees does not impermissibly conflict with section. 291 C. 307.