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H0579aa...............................................by HEALTH AND WELFARE
MENTALLY ILL PATIENTS - RIGHTS - Amends existing law relating to the
protection of the mentally ill to govern communication and visitation
rights of patients, including access to a representative of the state
protection and advocacy system.
01/29 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
01/30 Rpt prt - to Health/Wel
02/13 Rpt out - to Gen Ord
02/17 Rpt out amen - to engros
02/18 Rpt engros - 1st rdg - to 2nd rdg as amen
02/19 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg as amen
02/24 3rd rdg as amen - PASSED - 69-0-1
AYES -- Andersen, Barraclough, Barrett, Bauer, Bayer, Bedke, Bell,
Black, Block, Boe, Bolz, Bradford, Campbell, Cannon, Clark, Collins,
Crow, Cuddy, Deal, Denney, Douglas, Eberle, Ellsworth, Eskridge,
Field(18), Field(23), Gagner, Garrett, Harwood, Henbest, Jaquet,
Jones, Kellogg, Kulczyk, Lake, Langford, Langhorst, Martinez,
McGeachin, McKague, Meyer, Miller, Mitchell, Moyle, Naccarato,
Nielsen, Pasley-Stuart, Raybould, Ridinger, Ring, Ringo, Roberts,
Robison, Rydalch, Sali, Sayler, Schaefer, Shepherd, Shirley, Skippen,
Smith(30), Smith(24), Smylie, Snodgrass, Stevenson, Trail, Wills,
Wood, Mr. Speaker
NAYS -- None
Absent and excused -- Edmunson
Floor Sponsor - Garrett
Title apvd - to Senate
02/25 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to Health/Wel
03/10 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/11 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/19 3rd rdg - PASSED - 35-0-0
AYES -- Andreason, Bailey, Brandt, Bunderson, Burkett(Maxand),
Burtenshaw, Calabretta, Cameron, Compton, Darrington, Davis, Gannon,
Geddes, Goedde, Hill, Ingram, Kennedy, Keough, Little, Lodge,
Malepeai, Marley, McKenzie, McWilliams, Noble, Noh, Pearce,
Richardson, Schroeder, Sorensen, Stegner, Stennett, Sweet, Werk,
Williams
NAYS -- None
Absent and excused -- None
Floor Sponsor - Brandt
Title apvd - to House
03/20 To enrol - Rpt enrol - Sp signed - Pres signed
03/22 To Governor
03/24 Governor signed
Session Law Chapter 315
Effective: 07/01/04
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-seventh Legislature Second Regular Session - 2004
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HOUSE BILL NO. 579
BY HEALTH AND WELFARE COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO PROTECTION OF THE MENTALLY ILL; AMENDING SECTION 66-317, IDAHO
3 CODE, TO FURTHER DEFINE TERMS; AND AMENDING SECTION 66-346, IDAHO CODE, TO
4 GOVERN COMMUNICATION AND VISITATION RIGHTS OF PATIENTS AND TO MAKE A TECH-
5 NICAL CORRECTION.
6 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
7 SECTION 1. That Section 66-317, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
8 amended to read as follows:
9 66-317. DEFINITIONS. As used in this chapter, terms shall have the fol-
10 lowing meanings:
11 (a) "Department director" means the director of the state department of
12 health and welfare.
13 (b) "Voluntary patient" means an individual admitted to a facility for
14 evaluation pursuant to section 18-211 or 20-520, Idaho Code, or admitted to a
15 facility for treatment pursuant to section 66-318, Idaho Code.
16 (c) "Involuntary patient" means an individual committed pursuant to sec-
17 tion 18-212, 66-329 or 66-1201, Idaho Code, or committed pursuant to section
18 16-1608 or 20-520, Idaho Code, and admitted to a facility for the treatment of
19 minors.
20 (d) "Licensed physician" means an individual licensed under the laws of
21 this state to practice medicine or a medical officer of the government of the
22 United States while in this state in the performance of his official duties.
23 (e) "Designated examiner" means a psychiatrist, psychologist, psychiatric
24 nurse, or social worker and such other mental health professionals as may be
25 designated in accordance with rules promulgated pursuant to the provisions of
26 chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code, by the department of health and welfare. Any
27 person designated by the department director will be specially qualified by
28 training and experience in the diagnosis and treatment of mental or mentally
29 related illnesses or conditions.
30 (f) "Dispositioner" means a designated examiner employed by or under con-
31 tract with the department of health and welfare and designated by the depart-
32 ment director to determine the appropriate location for care and treatment of
33 involuntary patients.
34 (g) "Facility" means any public or private hospital, sanatorium, institu-
35 tion, mental health center or other organization designated in accordance with
36 rules adopted by the board of health and welfare as equipped to initially
37 hold, evaluate, rehabilitate or to provide care or treatment, or both, for the
38 mentally ill.
39 (h) "Lacks capacity to make informed decisions about treatment" means the
40 inability, by reason of mental illness, to achieve a rudimentary understanding
41 after conscientious efforts at explanation of the purpose, nature, and possi-
42 ble significant risks and benefits of treatment.
43 (i) "Inpatient treatment facility" means a facility in which an individ-
2
1 ual receives medical and mental treatment for not less than a continuous
2 twenty-four (24) hour period.
3 (j) "Supervised residential facility" means a facility, other than the
4 individual's home, in which the individual lives and in which there lives, or
5 are otherwise on duty during the times that the individual's presence is
6 expected, persons who are employed to supervise, direct, treat or monitor the
7 individual.
8 (k) "Likely to injure himself or others" means either:
9 (1) A substantial risk that physical harm will be inflicted by the pro-
10 posed patient upon his own person, as evidenced by threats or attempts to
11 commit suicide or inflict physical harm on himself; or
12 (2) A substantial risk that physical harm will be inflicted by the pro-
13 posed patient upon another as evidenced by behavior which has caused such
14 harm or which places another person or persons in reasonable fear of sus-
15 taining such harm.
16 (l) "Mentally ill" means a person, who as a result of a substantial dis-
17 order of thought, mood, perception, orientation, or memory, which grossly
18 impairs judgment, behavior, capacity to recognize and adapt to reality,
19 requires care and treatment at a facility.
20 (m) "Gravely disabled" means a person who, as the result of mental ill-
21 ness, is in danger of serious physical harm due to the person's inability to
22 provide for any of his basic needs for nourishment, or essential medical care,
23 or shelter or safety.
24 (n) "Outpatient commitment" means a court order directing a person to
25 comply with specified mental health treatment requirements, not involving the
26 continuous supervision of a person in an inpatient setting, that are reason-
27 ably designed to alleviate or to reduce a person's illness or disability, or
28 to maintain or prevent deterioration of the person's mental or emotional func-
29 tioning. The specified requirements may include, but need not be limited to,
30 taking prescribed medication, reporting to a facility to permit monitoring of
31 the person's condition, or participating in individual or group therapy or in
32 educational or vocational programs. Outpatient commitment may be up to one (1)
33 year.
34 (o) "Protection and advocacy system" means the agency designated by the
35 governor as the state protection and advocacy system pursuant to 42 U.S.C.
36 section 6042 and 42 U.S.C. sections 10801 et seq.
37 SECTION 2. That Section 66-346, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
38 amended to read as follows:
39 66-346. RIGHT TO COMMUNICATION AND VISITATION -- EXERCISE OF CIVIL
40 RIGHTS. (a) Every patient shall have the following rights:
41 (1) To communicate by sealed mail or otherwise, with persons, inside or
42 outside the facility and to have access to reasonable amounts of letter
43 writing material and postage;
44 (2) To receive visitors at all reasonable times;
45 (3) To wear his own clothes; to keep and use his own personal possessions
46 including toilet articles; to keep and be allowed to spend a reasonable
47 sum of his own money for canteen expenses and small purchases; to have
48 access to individual storage space for his private use;
49 (4) To refuse specific modes of treatment;
50 (5) To be visited by his attorney or any employee of his attorney's firm,
51 or a representative of the state protection and advocacy system at all any
52 times;
53 (6) To exercise all civil rights, including the right to dispose of prop-
3
1 erty except property described in subsection (3) above, execute instru-
2 ments, make purchases, enter into contractual relationships, and vote
3 unless limited by prior court order;
4 (7) To have reasonable access to all records concerning himself.
5 (b) Notwithstanding any limitations authorized under this section on the
6 right of communication, every patient shall be entitled to communicate by
7 sealed mail with the court, if any, which ordered his commitment.
8 (c) The director of a facility may deny a patient's rights under this
9 section, except that the rights enumerated in subsections (a)(5) and (a)(6) of
10 section 66-346, Idaho Code this section, shall not be denied by the director
11 of the facility under any circumstances. Only in cases of emergency or when a
12 court has determined that a patient lacks capacity to make informed decisions
13 about treatment, may the director of a facility deny a patient's rights under
14 subsection (a)(4) of this section. A statement explaining the reasons for any
15 denial of a patient's rights shall be immediately entered in his treatment
16 record and if the patient has been committed pursuant to court order, copies
17 of such statement shall be submitted to the committing court and sent to the
18 patient's spouse, guardian, adult next of kin or friend and attorney, if any.
19 (d) A list of the foregoing rights shall be prominently posted in all
20 facilities and brought to the attention of the patient by such means as the
21 board of health and welfare shall designate.
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-seventh Legislature Second Regular Session - 2004
Moved by Garrett
Seconded by Block
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HOUSE AMENDMENT TO H.B. NO. 579
1 AMENDMENT TO SECTION 1
2 On page 2 of the printed bill, in line 36, delete "6042" and insert:
3 "15043".
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-seventh Legislature Second Regular Session - 2004
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HOUSE BILL NO. 579, As Amended
BY HEALTH AND WELFARE COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO PROTECTION OF THE MENTALLY ILL; AMENDING SECTION 66-317, IDAHO
3 CODE, TO FURTHER DEFINE TERMS; AND AMENDING SECTION 66-346, IDAHO CODE, TO
4 GOVERN COMMUNICATION AND VISITATION RIGHTS OF PATIENTS AND TO MAKE A TECH-
5 NICAL CORRECTION.
6 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
7 SECTION 1. That Section 66-317, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
8 amended to read as follows:
9 66-317. DEFINITIONS. As used in this chapter, terms shall have the fol-
10 lowing meanings:
11 (a) "Department director" means the director of the state department of
12 health and welfare.
13 (b) "Voluntary patient" means an individual admitted to a facility for
14 evaluation pursuant to section 18-211 or 20-520, Idaho Code, or admitted to a
15 facility for treatment pursuant to section 66-318, Idaho Code.
16 (c) "Involuntary patient" means an individual committed pursuant to sec-
17 tion 18-212, 66-329 or 66-1201, Idaho Code, or committed pursuant to section
18 16-1608 or 20-520, Idaho Code, and admitted to a facility for the treatment of
19 minors.
20 (d) "Licensed physician" means an individual licensed under the laws of
21 this state to practice medicine or a medical officer of the government of the
22 United States while in this state in the performance of his official duties.
23 (e) "Designated examiner" means a psychiatrist, psychologist, psychiatric
24 nurse, or social worker and such other mental health professionals as may be
25 designated in accordance with rules promulgated pursuant to the provisions of
26 chapter 52, title 67, Idaho Code, by the department of health and welfare. Any
27 person designated by the department director will be specially qualified by
28 training and experience in the diagnosis and treatment of mental or mentally
29 related illnesses or conditions.
30 (f) "Dispositioner" means a designated examiner employed by or under con-
31 tract with the department of health and welfare and designated by the depart-
32 ment director to determine the appropriate location for care and treatment of
33 involuntary patients.
34 (g) "Facility" means any public or private hospital, sanatorium, institu-
35 tion, mental health center or other organization designated in accordance with
36 rules adopted by the board of health and welfare as equipped to initially
37 hold, evaluate, rehabilitate or to provide care or treatment, or both, for the
38 mentally ill.
39 (h) "Lacks capacity to make informed decisions about treatment" means the
40 inability, by reason of mental illness, to achieve a rudimentary understanding
41 after conscientious efforts at explanation of the purpose, nature, and possi-
42 ble significant risks and benefits of treatment.
43 (i) "Inpatient treatment facility" means a facility in which an individ-
2
1 ual receives medical and mental treatment for not less than a continuous
2 twenty-four (24) hour period.
3 (j) "Supervised residential facility" means a facility, other than the
4 individual's home, in which the individual lives and in which there lives, or
5 are otherwise on duty during the times that the individual's presence is
6 expected, persons who are employed to supervise, direct, treat or monitor the
7 individual.
8 (k) "Likely to injure himself or others" means either:
9 (1) A substantial risk that physical harm will be inflicted by the pro-
10 posed patient upon his own person, as evidenced by threats or attempts to
11 commit suicide or inflict physical harm on himself; or
12 (2) A substantial risk that physical harm will be inflicted by the pro-
13 posed patient upon another as evidenced by behavior which has caused such
14 harm or which places another person or persons in reasonable fear of sus-
15 taining such harm.
16 (l) "Mentally ill" means a person, who as a result of a substantial dis-
17 order of thought, mood, perception, orientation, or memory, which grossly
18 impairs judgment, behavior, capacity to recognize and adapt to reality,
19 requires care and treatment at a facility.
20 (m) "Gravely disabled" means a person who, as the result of mental ill-
21 ness, is in danger of serious physical harm due to the person's inability to
22 provide for any of his basic needs for nourishment, or essential medical care,
23 or shelter or safety.
24 (n) "Outpatient commitment" means a court order directing a person to
25 comply with specified mental health treatment requirements, not involving the
26 continuous supervision of a person in an inpatient setting, that are reason-
27 ably designed to alleviate or to reduce a person's illness or disability, or
28 to maintain or prevent deterioration of the person's mental or emotional func-
29 tioning. The specified requirements may include, but need not be limited to,
30 taking prescribed medication, reporting to a facility to permit monitoring of
31 the person's condition, or participating in individual or group therapy or in
32 educational or vocational programs. Outpatient commitment may be up to one (1)
33 year.
34 (o) "Protection and advocacy system" means the agency designated by the
35 governor as the state protection and advocacy system pursuant to 42 U.S.C.
36 section 15043 and 42 U.S.C. sections 10801 et seq.
37 SECTION 2. That Section 66-346, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
38 amended to read as follows:
39 66-346. RIGHT TO COMMUNICATION AND VISITATION -- EXERCISE OF CIVIL
40 RIGHTS. (a) Every patient shall have the following rights:
41 (1) To communicate by sealed mail or otherwise, with persons, inside or
42 outside the facility and to have access to reasonable amounts of letter
43 writing material and postage;
44 (2) To receive visitors at all reasonable times;
45 (3) To wear his own clothes; to keep and use his own personal possessions
46 including toilet articles; to keep and be allowed to spend a reasonable
47 sum of his own money for canteen expenses and small purchases; to have
48 access to individual storage space for his private use;
49 (4) To refuse specific modes of treatment;
50 (5) To be visited by his attorney or any employee of his attorney's firm,
51 or a representative of the state protection and advocacy system at all any
52 times;
53 (6) To exercise all civil rights, including the right to dispose of prop-
3
1 erty except property described in subsection (3) above, execute instru-
2 ments, make purchases, enter into contractual relationships, and vote
3 unless limited by prior court order;
4 (7) To have reasonable access to all records concerning himself.
5 (b) Notwithstanding any limitations authorized under this section on the
6 right of communication, every patient shall be entitled to communicate by
7 sealed mail with the court, if any, which ordered his commitment.
8 (c) The director of a facility may deny a patient's rights under this
9 section, except that the rights enumerated in subsections (a)(5) and (a)(6) of
10 section 66-346, Idaho Code this section, shall not be denied by the director
11 of the facility under any circumstances. Only in cases of emergency or when a
12 court has determined that a patient lacks capacity to make informed decisions
13 about treatment, may the director of a facility deny a patient's rights under
14 subsection (a)(4) of this section. A statement explaining the reasons for any
15 denial of a patient's rights shall be immediately entered in his treatment
16 record and if the patient has been committed pursuant to court order, copies
17 of such statement shall be submitted to the committing court and sent to the
18 patient's spouse, guardian, adult next of kin or friend and attorney, if any.
19 (d) A list of the foregoing rights shall be prominently posted in all
20 facilities and brought to the attention of the patient by such means as the
21 board of health and welfare shall designate.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 13668
This bill would add language to Idaho Code Title 66 Chapter 3,
which would give patients who are subject to involuntary
commitment the right to contact and communicate with
representatives of the state protection and advocacy (P&A)system.
This agency is designated by the governor under federal laws (42
U.S.C. 6042, and 42 U.S.C. 10801 et seq.) To receive federal
funds for the purpose of protecting the rights of people with
disabilities. The P&A system must have authority to communicate
with people who reside in treatment facilities, to investigate
allegations of abuse, neglect, and other rights violations. This
bill clarifies in state law the rights of people who are
involuntarily committed to the custody of the state to
communicate with representatives of the Idaho P&A.
The bill also clarifies that the person's right to communicate
with their attorney includes the right to communicate with
employees of their attorney's firm.
The language is parallel to the language in the Idaho Children's
Mental Health Services Act (Idaho Code 16-2425 (14)).
FISCAL IMPACT
There will be no impact to the General Fund.
Contact
Name: James R. Baugh, Co-Ad, Inc.
Phone: 208-336-5353
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE H 579