Florida Statutes

Fla. Stat. § 916.115 (2025)

Appointment of experts.

✓ 2025 Florida Statutes — current through the 2025 Regular Session

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916.115 Appointment of experts.—

(1) The court shall appoint no more than three experts to determine the mental condition of a defendant in a criminal case, including competency to proceed, insanity, involuntary placement, and treatment. The experts may evaluate the defendant in jail or in another appropriate local facility or in a facility of the Department of Corrections.

(a) The court-appointed experts shall:

1. Be a psychiatrist, licensed psychologist, or physician.

2. Have completed initial and annual forensic evaluator training, provided by the department.

3. If performing juvenile evaluations, have completed initial and annual juvenile forensic competency evaluation training provided by the department.

(b) Existing evaluators as of July 1, 2024, shall complete department-provided annual forensic evaluator training by July 1, 2026, to remain active on the list described in paragraph (c).

(c) The department shall maintain and annually provide the courts with a list of available mental health professionals who have completed the initial and annual training as experts.

(2) The court shall pay for any expert that it appoints by court order, upon motion of counsel for the defendant or the state or upon its own motion. If the defense or the state retains an expert and waives the confidentiality of the expert’s report, the court may pay for no more than two additional experts appointed by court order. If an expert appointed by the court upon motion of counsel for the defendant specifically to evaluate the competence of the defendant to proceed also addresses issues related to sanity as an affirmative defense, the court shall pay only for that portion of the expert’s fees relating to the evaluation on competency to proceed, and the balance of the fees shall be chargeable to the defense.

(a) Pursuant to s. 29.006, the office of the public defender shall pay for any expert retained by the office.

(b) Pursuant to s. 29.005, the office of the state attorney shall pay for any expert retained by the office and for any expert whom the office retains and whom the office moves the court to appoint in order to ensure that the expert has access to the defendant.

(c) An expert retained by the defendant who is represented by private counsel appointed under s. 27.5303 shall be paid by the Justice Administrative Commission.

(d) An expert retained by a defendant who is indigent for costs as determined by the court and who is represented by private counsel, other than private counsel appointed under s. 27.5303, on a fee or pro bono basis, or who is representing himself or herself, shall be paid by the Justice Administrative Commission from funds specifically appropriated for these expenses.

(e) State employees shall be reimbursed for expenses pursuant to s. 112.061.

(f) The fees shall be taxed as costs in the case.

(g) In order for an expert to be paid for the services rendered, the expert’s report and testimony must explicitly address each of the factors and follow the procedures set out in this chapter and in the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure.

History.—s. 1, ch. 80-75; s. 5, ch. 82-176; s. 5, ch. 83-274; s. 25, ch. 84-285; s. 34, ch. 85-167; s. 18, ch. 94-154; s. 1528, ch. 97-102; s. 14, ch. 98-92; s. 58, ch. 2005-236; s. 10, ch. 2006-195; s. 11, ch. 2025-143.

Note.—Former s. 916.11.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 19 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 2001–2025 · leading case: Off. of State Attorney v. Polites, 904 So. 2d 527 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005).

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Off. of State Attorney v. Polites, 904 So. 2d 527 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005). · cites it 6× “Section 916.115 sets forth the scheme for the appointment of experts: (1)(b) The court may appoint no more than three nor fewer than two experts to determine issues of the mental conditions of a defendant in a criminal case, including the issues of competency to proceed,…”

Miami-Dade Cnty. v. Jones, 793 So. 2d 902 (Fla. 2001). · cites it 8× “After careful review of this chapter, we determine that section 916.115, Florida Statutes (2000), dictates that the County has financial responsibility for the court expert witness cost at issue in this case.”

Manuel v. State, 162 So. 3d 1157 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015). · cites it 8× “…trial court to appoint no more than three experts for the purpose of determining Manuel’s competency to proceed. See § 916.115, Fla. Stat.”

Aaron Beal Wanless v. State of Florida, 271 So. 3d 1219 (Fla. 1st DCA 2019). · cites it 3× “Although experts appointed pursuant to section 916.115 sometimes testify at trial, see Fla.”

Gregory David Larkin v. State of Florida, 147 So. 3d 452 (Fla. 2014). · cites it 2× “This standard is echoed in Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.211(a)(1). In making the competency determination, the examining expert must consider the defendant’s capacity to appreciate the charges and range of potential penalties, understand the adversarial nature of the…”

Williams v. State, 134 So. 3d 975 (Fla. 1st DCA 2012). · cites it 2× “Appointed counsel filed a notice under section 916.115, Florida Statutes (2009), and Florida Rule of Criminal *976 Procedure 3.”

Dep't of Child. & Families v. Clem, 903 So. 2d 1011 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005). “See §§ 916.115, 916.12, & 916.13, Fla. Stat.”

Yancy v. State, 88 So. 3d 1040 (Fla. 4th DCA 2012). · cites it 3× “This dichotomy regarding the appointment of experts, depending on the nature of the examination, is recognized by section 916.115, Florida Statutes (2011).”

TITA v. State, 42 So. 3d 838 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010). · cites it 4× “(amending section 916.115 to eliminate language requiring the court to appoint no fewer than two experts).”

W.Z. v. State, 35 So. 3d 51 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010). “Mental competency evaluations in criminal proceedings are governed by section 916.115.”

Agency for Persons With Disabilities v. Dallas, 38 So. 3d 831 (Fla. 1st DCA 2010). “See §§ 916.115, *833 et seq., Fla. Stat. 1 Part III of Chapter 916 sets out the framework for determining whether defendants with mental retardation or autism are competent to proceed and, if not, for committing them to a forensic facility to receive services to help them regain…”

WZ v. State, 35 So. 3d 51 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010). “[3] Mental competency evaluations in criminal proceedings are governed by section 916.115.”

Show all 19 citing cases →

— 916.115(1) — 4 cases

Miami-Dade Cnty. v. Jones, 793 So. 2d 902 (Fla. 2001). “After careful review of this chapter, we determine that section 916.115, Florida Statutes (2000), dictates that the County has financial responsibility for the court expert witness cost at issue in this case.”

TITA v. State, 42 So. 3d 838 (Fla. 4th DCA 2010). “(amending section 916.115 to eliminate language requiring the court to appoint no fewer than two experts).”

Dep't of Child. & Families v. State of Florida & William Elvey (Fla. 5th DCA 2024).

Thomas v. State, 93 So. 3d 404 (Fla. 2d DCA 2012).

— 916.115(1)(a) — 1 case

Aaron Beal Wanless v. State of Florida, 271 So. 3d 1219 (Fla. 1st DCA 2019). “Although experts appointed pursuant to section 916.115 sometimes testify at trial, see Fla.”

— 916.115(1)(b) — 1 case

Off. of State Attorney v. Polites, 904 So. 2d 527 (Fla. 3d DCA 2005). “Section 916.115 sets forth the scheme for the appointment of experts: (1)(b) The court may appoint no more than three nor fewer than two experts to determine issues of the mental conditions of a defendant in a criminal case, including the issues of competency to proceed,…”

— 916.115(2) — 2 cases

Manuel v. State, 162 So. 3d 1157 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015). “…trial court to appoint no more than three experts for the purpose of determining Manuel’s competency to proceed. See § 916.115, Fla. Stat.”

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