Florida § 916.115 - Appointment of experts.

§ 916.115. Appointment of experts.

(1) The court shall appoint no more than three experts to determine the mental condition of a defendant in a criminal case, including competency to proceed, insanity, involuntary placement, and treatment. The experts may evaluate the defendant in jail or in another appropriate local facility or in a facility of the Department of Corrections. (a) Each court-appointed expert shall: 1. Be a psychiatrist, licensed psychologist, or physician. 2. Have completed initial and annual forensic evaluator training, provided by the department. 3. If performing juvenile evaluations, have completed initial and annual juvenile forensic competency evaluation training provided by the department. (b) Existing evaluators as of July 1, 2024, shall complete department-provided annual forensic evaluator training by July 1, 2026, to remain active on the list described in paragraph (c). (c) The department shall maintain and annually provide the courts with a list of available mental health professionals who have completed the initial and annual training as experts. (2) The court shall pay for any expert that it appoints by court order, upon motion of counsel for the defendant or the state or upon its own motion. If the defense or the state retains an expert and waives the confidentiality of the expert’s report, the court may pay for no more than two additional experts appointed by court order. If an expert appointed by the court upon motion of counsel for the defendant specifically to evaluate the competence of the defendant to proceed also addresses issues related to sanity as an affirmative defense, the court shall pay only for that portion of the expert’s fees relating to the evaluation on competency to proceed, and the balance of the fees shall be chargeable to the defense. (a) Pursuant to s. 29.006, the office of the public defender shall pay for any expert retained by the office. (b) Pursuant to s. 29.005, the office of the state attorney shall pay for any expert retained by the office and for any expert whom the office retains and whom the office moves the court to appoint in order to ensure that the expert has access to the defendant. (c) An expert retained by the defendant who is represented by private counsel appointed under s. 27.5303 shall be paid by the Justice Administrative Commission. (d) An expert retained by a defendant who is indigent for costs as determined by the court and who is represented by private counsel, other than private counsel appointed under s. 27.5303, on a fee or pro bono basis, or who is representing himself or herself, shall be paid by the Justice Administrative Commission from funds specifically appropriated for these expenses. (e) State employees shall be reimbursed for expenses pursuant to s. 112.061. (f) The fees shall be taxed as costs in the case. (g) In order for an expert to be paid for the services rendered, the expert’s report and testimony must explicitly address each of the factors and follow the procedures set out in this chapter and in the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure.