Unfit defendants may not be hospitalized in Illinois solely by reason of inability to stand trial, but are remanded by the judge to a hospital for examination by treatment staff who give expert testimony at a subsequent hearing governed by the Mental Health Code. The law also requires that unfit defendants who are committed after the hospitalization hearing be periodically reviewed regarding both fitness for trial and the need for mental treatment. Because the statutory definitions of inability to stand trial and need for mental treatment differ, an unfit defendant may not be adjudged in need of treatment at the hospitalization hearing. Moreover, hospitals will discharge defendants when they have responded successfully to treatment. Both situations send defendants back into the criminal justice system where they often remain in limbo, unable to stand trial but receiving no specialized treatment. An example is the Cook County case of People v. Lang in which the defendant charged with second degree murder was judged unfit for trial because of speech and hearing disabilities, but was considered not to need treatment because he was neither mentally retarded nor mentally ill. After an unsuccessful search for alternatives and a 10-month bail hearing, this defendant remains in county jail. Solutions to this dilemma include redefining the Mental Health Code's criteria to include persons adjudged unfit to stand trial or to amend the Unified Code of Corrections so that defendants who are likely to harm themselves or others are treated as a group subject to involuntary commitment. The most expeditious approach would be amending the Code of Corrections to remand all unfit defendants to the Department of Mental and Developmental Disabilities for specialized treatment regardless of their need for mental treatment. Concurrently, the legislature could authorize the Department to operate special programs for these individuals. References are included.