Colorado lawmakers overturned a recent decision of the state Supreme Court in the final days of the legislative session, clarifying that the government cannot re-evaluate a juvenile defendant’s competency to proceed without a judge’s order.

On April 14, the Supreme Court decided People in the Interest of J.D., in which an El Paso County juvenile defendant was deemed not competent to proceed across his multiple cases. A finding of incompetence means a disorder, developmental disability or mental capacity does not allow a defendant to consult with their attorney or assist in their own criminal defense because they do not understand the proceedings.

Although a judge directed the state to provide services to restore the defendant’s competency and report on its progress, the Colorado Department of Human Services evaluated the defendant again and found him competent, without an order to do so.

In J.D., the Supreme Court’s majority approved of that practice, believing nothing prevents the government from evaluating a juvenile in the course of providing services aimed at making the defendant competent to stand trial.

The three justices who disagreed with that reasoning cited a 2023 law that enacted protections for juveniles who receive services to restore their competency. The legislature specified that restoration evaluations, as they are known, should occur when judges deem the need for an evaluation “outweighs the negative impact” on the juvenile.

“I do not know how to square the majority’s expansive view of the Department’s authority, which seems to have no limits, with the very specific limits the General Assembly imposed,” wrote Justice Maria E. Berkenkotter. “It is utterly illogical, in my view, to conclude that the General Assembly charged juvenile courts with applying this balancing test but placed absolutely no guardrails on the Department to protect juveniles from the potential negative impact of repeated evaluations by the Department.”

Quickly, the legislature responded.

“The Supreme Court got it wrong. And we are now clarifying what the original intent of the legislation was,” said Sen. Judy Amabile, D-Boulder, on April 29, referring to the 2023 legislation she sponsored.

At the time of the J.D. decision, a new bill tweaking the competency process had already passed the Senate and was awaiting action in the House of Representatives. Within days, the sponsors introduced an amendment clarifying that competency restoration evaluations of juvenile defendants must be court-ordered, and the parties to the case are entitled to give input.

“There was a lot of stakeholding and task force work in 2023, and the intent was to have re-evaluations occur when a court ordered them to and with notice to all the parties,” said Amabile, who is also sponsoring this year’s competency bill. 

The amendment to reverse the Supreme Court’s ruling “lets judges do their job and decide when re-evaluations should occur,” she continued.

The 2025 competency bill is now awaiting the governor’s signature.