Art. 836.  Determination of mental capacity to proceed

A.  The issue of the mental capacity of the child to proceed shall be determined by the court after a contradictory hearing.  If the child is in a secure detention facility, the hearing shall be held within forty-five days of the appointment of the competency commission.  Otherwise, the hearing shall be held within sixty days of the appointment of the commission.  The court may extend either time period for a period not to exceed fifteen days, if an extension of time was granted in accordance with Article 835.

B.  The report of the competency commission is admissible in evidence at the hearing.  Members of the commission may be called as witnesses by the court, the child, or the district attorney.  The members of the competency commission are subject to cross examination by the child, the district attorney, and the court.  Other evidence pertaining to the child's capacity to proceed may be introduced at the hearing by the child and by the district attorney.

Acts 1991, No. 235, §8, eff. Jan. 1, 1992; Acts 2006, No. 266, §1; Acts 2008, No. 222, §1, eff. June 16, 2008.