Section 730.50. Fitness to proceed; indictment

1.  When  a  superior court, following a hearing conducted pursuant to
  subdivision three or four of  section  730.30,  is  satisfied  that  the
  defendant  is  not  an incapacitated person, the criminal action against
  him  must  proceed.  If  it  is  satisfied  that  the  defendant  is  an
  incapacitated  person,  or  if  no motion for such a hearing is made, it
  must adjudicate him an incapacitated person,  and  must  issue  a  final
  order of observation or an order of commitment. When the indictment does
  not  charge  a  felony  or  when  the defendant has been convicted of an
  offense other than a felony, such court (a) must issue a final order  of
  observation  committing the defendant to the custody of the commissioner
  for care and treatment in an appropriate institution for a period not to
  exceed ninety days from the date of such order, provided, however,  that
  the  commissioner may designate an appropriate hospital for placement of
  a defendant for whom a final order of observation has been issued, where
  such hospital is licensed by the office of mental health and has  agreed
  to  accept,  upon  referral  by  the commissioner, defendants subject to
  final orders of observation issued under this subdivision, and (b)  must
  dismiss  the  indictment  filed in such court against the defendant, and
  such dismissal constitutes a bar  to  any  further  prosecution  of  the
  charge  or  charges  contained  in  such indictment. When the indictment
  charges a felony or when the defendant has been convicted of  a  felony,
  it  must  issue  an  order of commitment committing the defendant to the
  custody of the commissioner for care and  treatment  in  an  appropriate
  institution  for  a  period not to exceed one year from the date of such
  order. Upon the issuance of an  order  of  commitment,  the  court  must
  exonerate the defendant's bail if he was previously at liberty on bail.
    2.  When a defendant is in the custody of the commissioner immediately
  prior to the expiration of the period prescribed in a temporary order of
  commitment  and  the  superintendent  of  the  institution  wherein  the
  defendant  is confined is of the opinion that the defendant continues to
  be an incapacitated person, such superintendent must apply to the  court
  that  issued such order for an order of retention. Such application must
  be made within sixty days prior to the  expiration  of  such  period  on
  forms  that have been jointly adopted by the judicial conference and the
  commissioner.  The  superintendent  must  give  written  notice  of  the
  application  to  the  defendant and to the mental hygiene legal service.
  Upon receipt of such application, the court  may,  on  its  own  motion,
  conduct  a  hearing  to  determine  the  issue  of capacity, and it must
  conduct such hearing if a demand therefor is made by  the  defendant  or
  the  mental  hygiene  legal  service  within ten days from the date that
  notice of the application was given them. If, at  the  conclusion  of  a
  hearing  conducted  pursuant to this subdivision, the court is satisfied
  that the defendant is no longer an incapacitated  person,  the  criminal
  action  against  him must proceed. If it is satisfied that the defendant
  continues to be an incapacitated person, or if no demand for  a  hearing
  is  made, the court must adjudicate him an incapacitated person and must
  issue an order of retention which shall authorize continued  custody  of
  the defendant by the commissioner for a period not to exceed one year.
    3.  When a defendant is in the custody of the commissioner immediately
  prior to the expiration of the period prescribed in the first  order  of
  retention,  the  procedure set forth in subdivision two shall govern the
  application for and the issuance of any subsequent order  of  retention,
  except  that  any subsequent orders of retention must be for periods not
  to exceed two years each; provided, however, that the aggregate  of  the
  periods prescribed in the temporary order of commitment, the first order
  of  retention  and  all  subsequent  orders of retention must not exceed
  two-thirds of the  authorized  maximum  term  of  imprisonment  for  the

  highest  class felony charged in the indictment or for the highest class
  felony of which he was convicted.
    4.  When  a  defendant  is  in  the custody of the commissioner at the
  expiration of the authorized period prescribed  in  the  last  order  of
  retention, the criminal action pending against him in the superior court
  that  issued  such  order  shall  terminate  for  all  purposes, and the
  commissioner must promptly certify to such court and to the  appropriate
  district  attorney  that  the  defendant  was  in  his  custody  on such
  expiration date. Upon receipt of  such  certification,  the  court  must
  dismiss  the  indictment,  and  such  dismissal constitutes a bar to any
  further  prosecution  of  the  charge  or  charges  contained  in   such
  indictment.
    5.  When,  on  the  effective  date of this subdivision, any defendant
  remains in the custody of the commissioner pursuant to an  order  issued
  under former code of criminal procedure section six hundred sixty-two-b,
  the  superintendent  or director of the institution where such defendant
  is confined shall, if he believes that the defendant continues to be  an
  incapacitated person, apply forthwith to a court of record in the county
  where  the  institution  is  located  for  an  order  of  retention. The
  procedures for obtaining any order pursuant to this subdivision shall be
  in accordance with the provisions of subdivisions two, three and four of
  this section, except that the period of retention pursuant to the  first
  order  obtained  under  this  subdivision shall be for not more than one
  year and any subsequent orders of retention must be for periods  not  to
  exceed two years each; provided, however, that the aggregate of the time
  spent in the custody of the commissioner pursuant to any order issued in
  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  former code of criminal procedure
  section six hundred sixty-two-b and the periods prescribed by the  first
  order  obtained  under  this  subdivision  and  all subsequent orders of
  retention must not exceed two-thirds of the authorized maximum  term  of
  imprisonment  for  the highest class felony charged in the indictment or
  the highest class felony of which he was convicted.