Forensic and Clinical PsychExperts conducts court-recognized psychological evaluations for attorneys, courts, and families across Royal Palm Beach and Florida’s 15th Judicial Circuit. We are a four-doctor practice whose Florida licensure dates to 2007, handling competency, criminal responsibility, custody, risk, immigration, and neuropsychological evaluations written to hold up under cross-examination. Royal Palm Beach cases are worked from our Palm Beach County office in Jupiter, about a 30-minute drive away.
How a Competency Case Actually Moves Through the 15th Circuit
In Palm Beach County, a felony competency case does not have to wait on the standard trial calendar. Since 2009, the 15th Judicial Circuit has run a Mental Health Specialty Division built specifically for competency matters, and cases routed into it resolve in roughly half the time of the traditional track.
Here is how the transfer works. Defense counsel files a written motion for appointment of experts along with a proposed order. Once the divisional judge signs it, the case is temporarily reassigned to the specialty division at the county’s Criminal Justice Complex in West Palm Beach. The competency question is evaluated and heard there, then the matter returns to its original division for the underlying charge.
For a Royal Palm Beach defendant, that one procedural detail can be the difference between months of delay and a focused hearing schedule. Most directory listings and general service pages never mention this pathway exists.
Our role is the evaluation itself. When a court appoints us or an attorney retains us, we complete the competency assessment on the compressed timeline the specialty division expects, and we write the report to the legal standard the court applies. Source: 15th Judicial Circuit of Florida, Mental Health services.
Court-Ordered or Privately Retained: Know Which Path Is Yours
Two systems handle forensic evaluations in Palm Beach County, and which one you use depends on who ordered the evaluation. If a judge ordered it, the referral usually runs through the county. Everything else is retained privately.
The county route
Palm Beach County Forensic Psychology Services accepts court-ordered referrals only. The presiding judge sets the fee. That office handles adult and juvenile competency, dependency evaluations of parents and children, domestic-violence risk assessments, and intellectual-disability evaluations. If your evaluation was ordered by the court, call that office at 561-834-6585 as soon as you receive the order. Source: Palm Beach County Forensic Psychology Services.
The private route
Attorneys and individuals retain a practice like ours directly. Private retention covers the fuller range of work, criminal, civil, family, immigration, and neuropsychological, plus independent second opinions and defense-retained evaluations the county office does not provide. You choose the expert, the scope, and the timeline.
What it costs: the honest answer
No forensic practice in Palm Beach County can quote you a fixed price up front, and you should be cautious of any that does. Court-ordered fees are set by the judge. Private fees depend on the evaluation type, the volume of records, the testing battery, and whether deposition or trial testimony is involved. We give a written fee agreement after a short scoping call, once we understand the referral question.
The Evaluations We Conduct
We conduct forensic evaluations across criminal, juvenile, family, civil, and immigration matters. Each assessment is matched to a specific legal question, not a generic template.
Criminal
- Competency to proceed (stand trial)
- Criminal responsibility (insanity defense)
- Competency to waive Miranda rights
- Mitigation and downward-departure evaluations
- Violence risk assessment
- Psychosexual and sexual-risk assessment
- Sexually violent predator evaluations
- Capital sentencing
- Expert testimony and consultation
Juvenile
- Juvenile competency to proceed
- Violence and sexual-risk assessment
- Sexual-behavior assessment
- Expert testimony and consultation
Family and civil
- Parental capacity and custody evaluations
- Social investigations
- Personal and emotional-injury evaluations
- Independent medical examinations
- Guardianship and civil-commitment evaluations
Immigration and neuropsychological
- Extreme-hardship and asylum evaluations
- U-visa and VAWA psychological evaluations
- Neuropsychological evaluations when brain function is in question
What a Court-Ready Evaluation Actually Involves
A defensible forensic evaluation is not a single office visit. A full assessment runs about 10 hours of professional work across five stages, and we are typically booked about three weeks out, so timing matters once a court date is set.
- Records review. Court orders, charging documents, prior psychological and medical records, school and treatment history.
- Clinical interview and mental status examination. Structured, several hours, sometimes across more than one appointment.
- Psychological testing. Validated instruments and, for risk questions, actuarial tools, with full scoring and interpretation.
- Collateral interviews. Family, treatment providers, and other parties when the referral question calls for it.
- Report writing. Findings synthesized into conclusions that answer the referral question in language a judge and jury understand.
The Court-Ready Standard
Every report we produce has to clear the same five-point bar before it leaves our office. We call it the Court-Ready Standard:
- Scope tied to the referral question, nothing more and nothing less.
- Validated instruments, with actuarial tools where the question is risk.
- At least three independent data sources, never a single interview.
- Written to the Daubert standard for scientific evidence, in plain language.
- Opinions stated with calibrated certainty that holds up under cross-examination.
That standard is why our experts are retained by both sides. An evaluation built this way reads the same whether it helps the party who paid for it or not.
Where Our Experts Have Testified
Our psychologists have been accepted as expert witnesses and have testified across six Florida circuits, not only Palm Beach.
- 15th Circuit – Palm Beach County
- 17th Circuit – Broward County
- 19th Circuit – Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, and Okeechobee Counties
- 1st Circuit – Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, and Walton Counties
- 2nd Circuit – Leon, Gadsden, Franklin, Jefferson, Liberty, and Wakulla Counties
- 20th Circuit – Charlotte, Collier, Glades, and Hendry Counties
We also conduct evaluations wherever a case requires them: courthouses, county jails, state correctional facilities, federal detention centers, ICE detention, and juvenile detention, throughout Florida.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a forensic psychologist do that a therapist does not?
A forensic psychologist answers legal questions; a therapist provides treatment. We evaluate competency, risk, capacity, and mental state for a court, and we give expert testimony. We do not provide ongoing counseling to the people we evaluate, and our opinions are written for the court, not the individual.
The court ordered my evaluation. Do I come to you or to the county?
If a judge ordered the evaluation, the referral usually runs through Palm Beach County Forensic Psychology Services at 561-834-6585, and the judge sets the fee. Privately retained evaluations, including defense-retained and second-opinion work, come to us directly.
How long does an evaluation take, and how far out are you booked?
A full forensic evaluation is about 10 hours of professional work across records review, interviews, testing, and report writing. We are typically booked about three weeks out, so contact us as early as your court date allows.
What will it cost?
There is no fixed price. Court-ordered fees are set by the judge. Private fees depend on the evaluation type, records volume, testing, and whether testimony is involved. You get a written fee agreement after an initial scoping call.
Is a forensic evaluation confidential?
No, and this is the most important thing to understand before you start. Court-ordered evaluations belong to the court or the referring party, not to the person evaluated. Statements made during the evaluation can appear in the report and in testimony. We explain these limits before we begin.
What should I bring to the appointment?
Bring the court order, any prior psychological or psychiatric records, medical and educational records, a list of current medications and providers, and the documents specific to your case: police and charging documents for criminal matters, or school and schedule information for custody matters.
Common Situations We Help With
People usually reach us at one of these moments:
- Your attorney questions whether you understand the proceedings or can assist in your own defense.
- Your child faces a serious juvenile charge and the court has ordered a competency assessment.
- A custody dispute needs an objective evaluation of parenting capacity and the child’s best interests.
- A divorce involves abuse allegations and the court has ordered psychological evaluation of the parties.
- You suffered psychological injury in an accident and need it documented for a civil claim.
- An immigration case needs evidence of extreme hardship or persecution trauma.
- A loved one faces involuntary commitment and you need an assessment of dangerousness or treatment needs.
- A sentencing phase needs mitigation evidence of developmental trauma or mental illness.
Talk to a Forensic Psychologist About Your Royal Palm Beach Case
Serving Royal Palm Beach and Western Palm Beach County
We serve Royal Palm Beach and the surrounding western communities, including Wellington, Loxahatchee, The Acreage, and Greenacres, from our Palm Beach County office in Jupiter, about 30 minutes northeast. Royal Palm Beach sits in the 15th Judicial Circuit, and felony matters are heard at the county Main Judicial Complex and Criminal Justice Complex in West Palm Beach.
We know the circuit’s requirements and its timelines, including the specialty-division pathway for competency cases described above. Wherever your case is heard, we schedule evaluations to meet the court’s calendar.
Talk to a Forensic Psychologist About Your Royal Palm Beach Case
Court timelines move faster than most evaluations can be scheduled. If your case involves competency, criminal responsibility, custody, risk, immigration, or civil injury, reach us early so testing and report writing fit the court’s calendar.