Article Figures & Data
Tables
- Table 1
Estimates of Annual Numbers of Competency to Stand Trial Evaluations in the United States
Estimate Key Year(s) of Data Useda Publication Year Methodology 36,000 1971–1972 1979 Multiplying the estimated number of defendants diverted for incompetence to stand trial each year by the estimated number of CST evaluations for each adjudication of incompetency. (Methods inferred from information in the book.)19 19,260–25,680 1978 1982 Multiplying the estimated number of individuals admitted to U.S. facilities for incompetence to stand trial by the estimated number of CST evaluations for each adjudication of incompetency.20 24,000–39,000 1991–1992 1997 A survey of directors of forensic evaluation systems asked for “low-end” and “high-end” estimates for annual numbers of CST evaluations; these numbers represent the sum of these estimates.21 49,611 1989–1990, 1992 1998 Multiplying a conservative estimated percentage of felony defendants referred for CST evaluations by the number of crimes listed in the U.S. Total Crime Index.22 60,000 1989–1992, 1994 2000 Multiplying a conservative estimated percentage of felony defendants referred for CST evaluations by an estimated number of felony indictments each year.23 90,200 2015 2017 Multiplying the estimated number of pretrial detainees in jails by the estimated percentage of jail inmates with a serious mental health disorder.24 25,634–51,500 2014 2019 A survey of officials working for public mental health systems asked for a range (e.g., 1–50, 51–200) of how many CST evaluations were performed annually in each state; these numbers represent the sum of the lower and upper end of these estimates.25 94,000 2019 2020 Authors used their “own calculations, based partially on national rates of incarceration at the pre-conviction level … and rate of severe mental illness in that population” (Ref. 26, p 65). ↵a This column may not include all relevant years of data used, as authors occasionally used additional secondary sources or data from nonspecific time periods in their calculations.
CST = competency to stand trial
