2005 Legislation
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HOUSE BILL NO. 268 – Patient, mentally ill, release

HOUSE BILL NO. 268

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H0268......................................................by STATE AFFAIRS
MENTALLY ILL - Amends existing law relating to the hospitalization of
mentally ill persons to provide exceptions to the right of voluntary
patients to be released; and to revise provisions applicable to detentions
without hearings.
                                                                        
02/25    House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/28    Rpt prt - to Health/Wel

Bill Text


                                                                        
                                                                        
  ]]]]              LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO             ]]]]
 Fifty-eighth Legislature                   First Regular Session - 2005
                                                                        
                                                                        
                              IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
                                                                        
                                     HOUSE BILL NO. 268
                                                                        
                                 BY STATE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
                                                                        
  1                                        AN ACT
  2    RELATING TO HOSPITALIZATION OF MENTALLY ILL PERSONS; AMENDING SECTION  66-320,
  3        IDAHO  CODE, TO REVISE EXCEPTIONS TO THE RIGHT OF VOLUNTARY PATIENTS TO BE
  4        RELEASED AND TO MAKE TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS; AND AMENDING  SECTION  66-326,
  5        IDAHO CODE, TO REVISE PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO DETENTIONS WITHOUT HEARINGS
  6        AND TO MAKE TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.
                                                                        
  7    Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
                                                                        
  8        SECTION  1.  That  Section  66-320, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
  9    amended to read as follows:
                                                                        
 10        66-320.  RIGHT TO RELEASE ON APPLICATION -- EXCEPTIONS. (a1)  A  voluntary
 11    patient  admitted in accordance with the procedure outlined in section 66-318,
 12    Idaho Code, who requests his release or whose release is requested,  in  writ-
 13    ing,  by  his  legal  guardian,  parent, spouse, or adult next of kin shall be
 14    released except that:
 15        (1a)  iIf the patient was admitted on his own application and the  request
 16        for  release  is  made  by a person other than the patient, release may be
 17        conditioned upon the agreement of the patient thereto,; and
 18        (2b)  iIf the patient, by reason of his age, was admitted on the  applica-
 19        tion  of  another  person,  his release prior to becoming sixteen eighteen
 20        (168) years of age may be conditioned upon the consent of  his  parent  or
 21        guardian,; or
 22        (3c)  iIf  the  administrative director or designee of the facility deter-
 23        mines that the patient should be hospitalized under the provisions of this
 24        chapter, the patient may be detained up to three (3) days, excluding  Sat-
 25        urdays,  Sundays  and  legal holidays, for the purpose of examination by a
 26        designated examiner and the filing of an application  for  continued  care
 27        and  treatment.  If  a  designated examiner finds that all of the criteria
 28        listed in section 66-329(c)(i) through (iii), Idaho Code,  are  met,  both
 29        the  application  and  the  certificate  of a designated examiner shall be
 30        delivered to the office of the prosecuting attorney of the county in Idaho
 31        in which the patient resides or, if a nonresident of the state  of  Idaho,
 32        the  county where the person is detained, and it shall be the responsibil-
 33        ity of the prosecuting attorney to file the application and  the  certifi-
 34        cate  of  the  designated  examiner with a court of competent jurisdiction
 35        within twenty-four (24) hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal hol-
 36        idays.
 37        (b2)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter,  judicial  pro-
 38    ceedings  authorized  by this chapter shall not be commenced with respect to a
 39    voluntary patient unless release of the patient has been requested by  himself
 40    or the individual who applied for his admission.
 41        (c3)  The  date  and  time  of  any request for release under this section
 42    shall be entered in the patient's clinical record. If the request for  release
 43    is denied, the reasons for denial also shall be entered in the patient's clin-
                                                                        
                                           2
                                                                        
  1    ical record.
  2        (d4)  A  patient  admitted  for  examination pursuant to section 20-520 or
  3    18-211, Idaho Code, may not be released except for purposes of  transportation
  4    back to the court ordering, or party authorizing, the examination.
                                                                        
  5        SECTION  2.  That  Section  66-326, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
  6    amended to read as follows:
                                                                        
  7        66-326.  DETENTION WITHOUT HEARING. (a1) No person  shall  be  taken  into
  8    custody as an alleged emergency patient unless and until the court has ordered
  9    such apprehension and custody under the provisions outlined in section 66-329,
 10    Idaho  Code;  provided,  however, that a person may be taken into custody by a
 11    peace officer and placed in a facility, if the peace  officer  has  reason  to
 12    believe,  based  upon  the  recommendation of a licensed physician, designated
 13    examiner, mental health practitioner or registered psychiatric nurse, that the
 14    person is gravely disabled due to mental illness  or  the  person's  continued
 15    liberty  poses  an imminent danger to that person or others, as evidenced by a
 16    threat of substantial physical harm. For purposes  of  this  section,  "mental
 17    health practitioner" means at least a master's degree level mental health pro-
 18    fessional including, but not limited to, psychologists and social workers. The
 19    person shall be detained only in a facility equipped to assess and treat acute
 20    psychiatric  and  other  mental  conditions;  provided, that the person may be
 21    detained in any hospital if no facility so equipped is  available  within  the
 22    state  of  Idaho and provided further that the hospital shall in those circum-
 23    stances be a facility for the purposes of  this  chapter.  Uunder  no  circum-
 24    stances  shall  the proposed patient be detained in a nonmedical unit used for
 25    the detention of individuals charged with  or  convicted  of  penal  offenses.
 26    Whenever  a  person  is  taken  into  custody under this section without court
 27    order, the evidence supporting the claim of grave  disability  due  to  mental
 28    illness  or  imminent  danger  must  be presented submitted to the prosecuting
 29    attorney of the county in Idaho in which the person resides or, if a  nonresi-
 30    dent  of  the state of Idaho, the county where the person is detained, and the
 31    prosecuting attorney shall present such evidence to a  duly  authorized  court
 32    within  twenty-four (24) hours from the time the individual was placed in cus-
 33    tody, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays.
 34        (b2)  If the court finds the individual to be gravely disabled due to men-
 35    tal illness or imminently dangerous under subsection (a1) of this section, the
 36    court shall issue a temporary custody order requiring the person to be held in
 37    a facility, and requiring an examination of the person by a  designated  exam-
 38    iner  within  twenty-four  (24)  hours of the entry of the order of the court,
 39    excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. Under no circumstances  shall
 40    tThe  proposed patient shall be detained only in a facility equipped to assess
 41    and treat acute psychiatric and other mental conditions;  provided,  that  the
 42    person may be detained in any hospital if no facility so equipped is available
 43    within  the  state  of  Idaho  and provided further that the hospital shall in
 44    those circumstances be a facility for purposes of this chapter. Under no  cir-
 45    cumstances  shall  the  person  be  detained in a nonmedical unit used for the
 46    detention of individuals charged with or convicted of penal offenses.
 47        (c3)  Where an examination is required under subsection (b2) of this  sec-
 48    tion,  the designated examiner shall make his findings and report to the court
 49    within twenty-four (24) hours of the examination, excluding Saturdays, Sundays
 50    and legal holidays.
 51        (d4)  If the designated examiner finds, in his examination under this sec-
 52    tion, that the person is mentally ill, and either is likely to injure  himself
 53    or others or is gravely disabled due to mental illness, the prosecuting attor-
                                                                        
                                           3
                                                                        
  1    ney  shall  file, within twenty-four (24) hours of the examination of the per-
  2    son, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal  holidays,  a  petition  with  the
  3    court  requesting the patient's person's detention pending commitment proceed-
  4    ings pursuant to the provisions  of  section  66-329,  Idaho  Code.  Upon  the
  5    receipt  of  such a petition, the court shall order his the person's detention
  6    to await hearing which shall be within five  (5)  days  (including  Saturdays,
  7    Sundays  and  legal  holidays) of the detention order. If no petition is filed
  8    within twenty-four (24) hours of the designated examiner's examination of  the
  9    person,   excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, the person shall be
 10    released.
 11        (e5)  Any person held in custody under  the  provisions  of  this  section
 12    shall  have  the  same  protection and rights which are guaranteed to a person
 13    already committed to the department director. Upon taking a person  into  cus-
 14    tody,  notice shall be given to A facility detaining a person under the provi-
 15    sions of this section shall attempt to notify the person's immediate relatives
 16    of the person's physical whereabouts and the reasons  for  taking  the  person
 17    into  custody  unless  the  administrative director or designee has reasonable
 18    cause for concern that doing so would compromise the physical or mental health
 19    of the person.

Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact


              STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

                    RS 15058

Adoption of this bill would amend Title 66, Chapter 3, 
Idaho Code which deals with hospitalization of mentally ill 
persons.  The bill makes a technical correction to section 
66-320 and clarifies who in a facility can make the 
decision to detain a voluntary patient for the purpose of 
examination by a designated examiner.  In addition, it sets 
forth in code a process whereby the designated examiner’s 
application for continued care and treatment, which could 
potentially lead to commitment, is adjudicated in a timely 
manner.

The bill amends section 66-326 to assist peace officers, 
who take persons into custody, determine whether such 
persons are in need of detention due to mental health 
issues.  It also spells out who in a facility is qualified 
to assist in that determination.  The bill specifies that 
such persons can be detained only in a facility equipped to 
assess and treat acute psychiatric and other mental 
conditions, with the exception that a person may be 
detained in a facility not so equipped if no equipped 
facility is available within the state.  While this allows 
unequipped facilities to hold patients for a short time 
without treating the patients’ mental illness, it requires 
them to find a facility that can provide treatment within a 
short time frame.  The bill also clarifies the process of 
court orders for the commitment of such persons, and it 
excludes Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays from the 
time constraint for doing that.

The bill strengthens the language which prohibits jailing 
of the mentally ill and requires the facility that detains 
such person to attempt to report information to the 
person’s immediate family unless contraindicated by the 
circumstances.



               FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT

There would be no impact to the state general fund.




Contacts:
Names:	Steven A. Millard, Idaho Hospital Association
        Bonnie Haines, Idaho Hospital Association
	Representative Kathie Garrett
Phone:	338-5100, extensions 203 and 207         
                                                  H 268