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The court's policy for court-ordered forensic evaluations, which evaluators who accept appointments agree to follow: the fee schedule - Pen. Code § 1368/1369/1370 competency and Welf. & Inst. Code § 709 minor's competency evaluations $675 (paid by the Court), not guilty by reason of insanity evaluations $1,350 (paid by the County), Pen. Code § 288.1 evaluations $960, Pen. Code § 457 arson pre-sentence reports $340, other psychological evaluations not to exceed $675, trial testimony $340/hour, trial preparation $230/hour (4 hours maximum), $230 when the evaluator cannot complete the evaluation, office standby $30/hour, extraordinary services $280/hour with prior approval, and mileage at the IRS rate; reports based on the standard examination material - police reports, the minute order, the CLETS printout, medical and psychiatric records and jail or juvenile hall medical records - an attorney providing other information only with court approval, on a written request to the Supervising Criminal Judge (criminal cases) or the judge assigned for all purposes (juvenile cases); extraordinary services requested of the Supervising Criminal Judge and compensated only with prior approval; compensation when an evaluation cannot be performed or a hearing is postponed; the report's contents, definitive conclusions on the legal questions and, for competence to stand trial, medication issues; and reports filed no later than five (5) weeks after the date of appointment unless the court orders otherwise, an extension of time requested with the reasons documented.
California > Fifth Appellate District > Stanislaus County > Superior Court of California, County of Stanislaus
SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF STANISLAUS FORENSIC EVALUATION POLICY The Stanislaus Superior Court established the following policy related to the court-ordered forensic evaluations. Evaluators who accept appointments to perform forensic evaluations, agree to adhere to this policy. 1. FEE SCHEDULE Code Section Type of Evaluation Payment Not to Exceed Amount Responsibility Pen. Code § 1368/1369/1370 Competency Court $675 Welf. & Inst. Code § 709 Juvenile Delinquency – Minor’s Competency Court $675 Pen. Code § 1026/1027 Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity County $1,350 Pen. Code § 288.1 Lewd/Lascivious Acts Court $960 Pen. Code § 457 Arson – Pre-sentence report Court $340 Other Other Psychological Evaluations Not to exceed $675 Trial Testimony $340/hour Trial Preparation (4 hours maximum) $230/hour Unable to Perform Evaluation – When the appointed evaluator is unable to complete the evaluation for reasons beyond the expert’s control $230 Office Standby (4 hours maximum) $30/hour Extraordinary services, including review of non-standard examination material or voluminous discovery - (4 hours maximum – prior approval required) $280/hour Mileage – Paid at IRS rate 2. STANDARD EXAMINATION MATERIAL – (Pen. Code 1026 et seq.; Pen. Code§ 1368, et seq.; Welf. & Inst. Code § 790) Evaluation reports in the case types referenced above shall be based on the following information, which shall be considered “standard examination material”: o Police Reports o Minute Order o CLETS printout o Medical/psychiatric records o Jail/Juvenile Hall medical records With court approval, an attorney may provide the appointed expert with other information to review. Requests to consider information beyond the standard examination material shall be in writing and must be submitted as follows: - Criminal Cases – Supervising Criminal Judge. If the case is assigned to the Supervising Criminal Judge, the information will be forwarded to the Supervising Criminal Judge’s designee. - Juvenile Cases – The judge assigned for all purposes. Unless the request to review additional information is granted, the appointed expert shall disregard any information other than the standard examination material. 3. EXTRAORDINARY SERVICES If the case or psychological issues presented are unusually complex, or the discovery material voluminous, the expert may request fees for additional services. The evaluator must submit a Request for Additional Funds - Extraordinary Services to the Supervising Criminal Judge. If the case is assigned to the Supervising Criminal Judge, the information will be forwarded to the Supervising Criminal Judge’s designee. Evaluators will not be compensated for extraordinary services performed without prior court approval. 4. EXAMINER UNABLE TO PERFORM EXAM In the event a Court-ordered evaluation cannot be performed for reasons that are beyond the control of the evaluator (e.g., defendant uncooperative, client no-show), the evaluator will be compensated at the rate established by the Court. 5. PAYMENT FOR EXPERT TESTIMONY Evaluators will be compensated at the rate established by the Court for providing testimony at a hearing, including trial. If the evaluator appears for testimony and the hearing is postponed or cancelled without sufficient notice, the evaluator may be compensated as approved on a case-by-case basis by the judicial officer depending on the individual circumstances present. The expert should document the relevant circumstances in the invoice. 6. EVALUATION REPORTS All reports shall be completed on a timely basis and shall comply with the format as set forth below: Report Contents The report should contain, but not limited to, the following information: (a) Defendant’s name and court case number (b) The date the court order the report to be returned (c) The statute authorizing defendant’s evaluation (d) Place, date, and duration of the examination (e) Identification of all records and collateral materials reviewed (f) If applicable, a list of the psychological tests used. (g) A statement showing that the defendant was informed of the purpose of the evaluation and that it is not confidential. (h) A statement of the current problems (i) Indication of pertinent social-developmental and/or legal-mental health history. (j) Description of the psychiatric/psychological or medical evaluation. (k) Discussion of findings and statement of conclusions and recommendations. The examiner’s conclusion/opinion on the legal questions must be definitive, clearly stated and underlined. For instance, “The defendant is currently not competent to stand trial.” (l) Competence to Stand Trial (§1369 P.C.) evaluations must address medication issues, including whether the defendant would benefit from antipsychotic medication and whether the defendant has the capacity to consent to the administration of antipsychotic medication. Addressing Legal Issues Reports should address the legal questions being raised. If this proves difficult, the responses should be qualified, but in any event, the legal questions being raised should be clearly indicated. The statutory basis for the evaluations are outlined in Attachment A. Conclusions All reports submitted must demonstrate reasoned conclusions, showing “causal relationships” if there are any. Yes or no responses to the legal questions presented are unacceptable, as well as rephrased legal questions or “circular reasoning.” 7. SUBMISSION OF REPORTS Unless otherwise ordered by the court, appointed experts shall file reports no later than five (5) weeks after the date of appointment. If an expert determines additional time is needed to complete the report, the expert must request an extension of time to file the report and document the reasons for the request
SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF STANISLAUS FORENSIC EVALUATION POLICY The Stanislaus Superior Court established the following policy related to the court-ordered forensic evaluations. Evaluators who accept appointments to perform forensic evaluations, agree to adhere to this policy. 1. FEE SCHEDULE Code Section Type of Evaluation Payment Not to Exceed Amount Responsibility Pen. Code § 1368/
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-10-14 (California T4 Stanislaus build 2026-10-14) from BenchPath custody ca/t4/ca-stanislaus/docs/general/forensic-evaluation-policy-090124.pdf (238976 bytes, sha256 5e74b6944231ce358b6ae34b5afb75fa65ad5999be8d27884fe53ec1ddc17ff3; 4 pages; a printed text layer) with the shared verbatim composer (v2 reflow): its four pages composed; the letterhead (“SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA”, “COUNTY OF STANISLAUS”) kept on page 1 and named on pages 2 to 4, each page's edition (“Rev. 09.01.24”, named) and page 1's 10-point typist's mark “nna” (named) removed as chrome - 11 chrome lines; the fee schedule's ruled table set a row a line, its cells left to right (the composer's table rows); 2 whitespace-only fixes (build/doc-fixes.json: the five items of the standard examination material, which the reflow ran into one line, set a line each, and the side heading “Report Contents” set on its own line); proof 1 (whitespace-only) and proof 2 (same character multiset as the text layer minus chrome) pass. Review note: The published file ends in section 7 mid-sentence (“the expert must request an extension of time to file the report and document the reasons for the request”) and does not include the Attachment A it cites for the statutory basis of the evaluations. The Professional Appointments page (held) says “Counsel may provide additional information to the examiner/expert without involving the Court”; section 2 of the policy lets an attorney provide other information only “With court approval”, on a written request. The page also links the earlier edition, Rev. 08.01.24 (held).
9 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-10.
6 verbatim requirements from 4th Circuit Administrative Order 1997-13.