District of Columbia · Through 2026-08-20 (D.C. Law 26-175)

D.C. Code § 21-1115: Inquiry under this chapter if person convicted of offense.

(a)
On the conviction by a court of record of competent jurisdiction of a person of an offense, or of a violation of an ordinance which is in whole or in part a violation of a statute of the District of Columbia, the court when satisfied on the testimony of a physician or a psychologist or other psychologist or other evidence that the person has at least a moderate intellectual disability as defined in the Citizens with Intellectual Disabilities Constitutional Rights and Dignity Act (D.C. Official Code § 7-1301.01 et seq.), may suspend sentence, or suspend the entering of an order sending the person to a jail, prison, or reformatory, or to a training or industrial school, and direct that a parent or guardian appointed by the court file a petition under that act.

(b)
When the court directs a petition to be filed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, it may order that, pending the preparation, filing and hearing of the petition, the person be detained in a place of safety, or be placed under the guardianship of a suitable person, if that person enters into a recognizance for his appearance.

(c)
Where, upon the hearing of a petition filed pursuant to this section or pursuant to a subsequent hearing under this chapter, the person is found not to have at least a moderate intellectual disability, the court shall impose sentence.

Where this section sits in the code

Title 21. Fiduciary Relations and Persons with Mental Illness. [Enacted title]
Chapter 11. Commitment and Maintenance of Persons with Moderate Intellectual Disabilities.

(a)

On the conviction by a court of record of competent jurisdiction of a person of an offense, or of a violation of an ordinance which is in whole or in part a violation of a statute of the District of Columbia, the court when satisfied on the testimony of a physician or a psychologist or other psychologist or other evidence that the person has at least a moderate intellectual disability as defined in the Citizens with Intellectual Disabilities Constitutional Rights and Dignity Act (D.C. Official Code § 7-1301.01 et seq.), may suspend sentence, or suspend the entering of an order sending the person to a jail, prison, or reformatory, or to a training or industrial school, and direct that a parent or guardian appointed by the court file a petition under that act.

(b)

When the court directs a petition to be filed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, it may order that, pending the preparation, filing and hearing of the petition, the person be detained in a place of safety, or be placed under the guardianship of a suitable person, if that person enters into a recognizance for his appearance.

(c)

Where, upon the hearing of a petition filed pursuant to this section or pursuant to a subsequent hearing under this chapter, the person is found not to have at least a moderate intellectual disability, the court shall impose sentence.

Collected 2026-08-29T05:44:07Z. Source file · JSON

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