Bill would reserve one Arizona State Hospital bed for dangerous, incompetent defendants and authorize interstate options

At an Arizona House caucus meeting, members reviewed House Bill 2307, a Senate‑amended measure that allows the Arizona Department of Health Services to arrange out‑of‑state involuntary commitment when no in‑state secure mental‑health beds exist and temporarily permits placement of one dangerous, incompetent defendant at Arizona State Hospital (ASH) through Dec. 31, 2031.

Staff reading the amendment summarized the bill’s requirements, including an analysis by DHS of the cost to staff and options to construct or renovate a secure state mental‑health facility on ASH grounds and the establishment of a study committee to recommend long‑term care models.

A lawmaker who described the bill as a response to rare, high‑risk cases said the measure is intended as a temporary remedy while the state builds a permanent secure facility. "Right now with current law, he can literally be walking the streets," the lawmaker said, describing a Mohave County case in which a defendant deemed dangerous and incompetent could not previously be placed in a secure in‑state facility.

The sponsor told colleagues the reserved ASH placement would be on the hospital’s forensic campus in a separate, guarded room, with the state covering costs while the individual receives mental‑health treatment intended to restore competency to stand trial. The sponsor said the bill also authorizes DHS to study interstate compacts as a last resort should an in‑state facility not be built before the bill’s sunset.

Caucus discussion focused on where the patient would be housed, the nature of treatment at ASH and the mechanics of potential out‑of‑state transfers. Staff noted the Senate adopted a timeframe allowing placement at ASH until Dec. 31, 2031, and called out the bill’s emergency clause, which the sponsor said reflected urgency to place these rare but dangerous defendants in secure care.

With no further debate in caucus, members recorded concurrence with the Senate amendments and moved to the next item. The measure, as described in caucus, requires further DHS analysis and committee work before any permanent facility is authorized or constructed.