Rule 20 Assessment Ramsey County

Abstract

There has been a recent increase of Rule 20s in Ramsey County, Minnesota. A Rule 20 is an assessment conducted by a psychiatrist or psychologist in criminal court that determines a defendant’s competency to stand trial. If the defendant is found incompetent, criminal proceedings are paused until competency can be restored. There are challenges for competency restoration due to limited access to mental health services and lack of incentive for competency restoration among defendants. Additionally, there are an increasing number of individuals who have repeatedly gone through the Rule 20 process and continue to re-offend. This increase in Rule 20 assessments and subsequent restoration services are becoming more costly while service providers struggle to keep up with demand.