South Dakota - Best Practices in the Evaluation of Competence to Stand Trial

20 Hours | 20 CEs

This on-demand training program on Best Practices in the Evaluation of Competence to Stand Trial is presented by Patricia A. Zapf, PhD.

One of the primary foundations of criminal law is that all defendants have a right to a fair trial. Towards this end, upwards of 60,000 evaluations of competency to stand trial are conducted annually in the USA. Research has shown that the opinion of the evaluator in these evaluations is accepted by the courts upwards of 95% of the time. Thus, it is imperative that these evaluations be conducted using best practices.

Two important sources have recently been recognized as setting the foundation for best practices in competency evaluation. This training program provides a strong foundation for South Dakota evaluators who conduct adjudicative competency evaluations of adults. This training was developed for the South Dakota Unified Judicial System and the South Dakota Department of Social Services.