(a) Upon the court’s receipt of the reports from the prosecutor, the probation department, and the regional center, and a determination by the regional center that the defendant does not have a cognitive developmental disability, the criminal proceedings for the offense charged shall proceed. If the defendant is found to have a cognitive developmental disability and to be eligible for regional center services, and the court determines from the various reports submitted to it that the proposed diversion program is acceptable to the court, the prosecutor, the probation department, and the regional center, and if the defendant consents to diversion and waives his or her right to a speedy trial, the court may order, without a hearing, that the diversion program be implemented for a period of time as prescribed in Section 1001.28.
(b) After consideration of the probation department’s report, the report of the regional center, and the report of the prosecutor relating to his or her recommendation for or against diversion, and any other relevant information, the court shall determine if the defendant shall be diverted under either dual or single agency supervision, and referred for habilitation or rehabilitation diversion pursuant to this chapter. If the court does not deem the defendant a person who would benefit by diversion at the time of the hearing, the suspended criminal proceedings may be reinstituted, or any other disposition as authorized by law may be made, and diversion may be ordered at a later date.
(c) Where a dual agency diversion program is ordered by the court, the regional center shall submit a report to the probation department on the defendant’s progress in the diversion program not less than every six months. Within five judicial days after receiving the regional center’s report, the probation department shall submit its report on the defendant’s progress in the diversion program, with the full report of the regional center appended, to the court and to the prosecutor. Where single agency diversion is ordered by the court, the regional center alone shall report the defendant’s progress to the court and to the prosecutor not less than every six months.
(Amended by Stats. 2004, Ch. 290, Sec. 5. Effective January 1, 2005.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018