Title 24Hospitals and AsylumsRelease 119-73

§321 Definitions

Title 24 › Chapter CHAPTER 9— - HOSPITALIZATION OF MENTALLY ILL NATIONALS RETURNED FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES › § 321

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Defines key words used in this chapter. Department means the Department of Health and Human Services. Secretary means the Secretary of Health and Human Services. State means any State or Territory of the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the District of Columbia. Residence means the place a State or local law or rule uses to decide if someone is eligible for care in a public mental hospital. Eligible person means someone for whom the Secretary gets two certificates: one from the Secretary of State saying the person is a U.S. national, and either a certificate from the Secretary of State that the person was legally found insane in a named foreign country, or a certificate (from an appropriate authority or person as set by HHS rules) saying the person was in a named foreign country and needed care and treatment in a mental hospital at the time of certification.

Full Legal Text

Title 24, §321

Hospitals and Asylums — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

For the purposes of this chapter except as the context may otherwise require—
(a)The term “Department” means the Department of Health and Human Services.
(b)The term “Secretary” means the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(c)The term “State” means a State or Territory of the United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the District of Columbia.
(d)The term “eligible person” means an individual with respect to whom the following certificates are furnished to the Secretary:
(1)A certificate of the Secretary of State that such individual is a national of the United States; and
(2)Either (A) a certificate obtained or transmitted by the Secretary of State that such individual has been legally adjudged insane in a named foreign country, or (B) a certificate of an appropriate authority or person (as determined in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services) stating that at the time of such certification such individual was in a named foreign country and was in need of care and treatment in a mental hospital.
(e)The term “residence” means residence as determined under the applicable law or regulations of a State or political subdivision for the purpose of determining the eligibility of an individual for hospitalization in a public mental hospital.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

“Department of Health and Human Services” substituted for “Department of Health, Education, and Welfare” in subsec. (a) and “Secretary of Health and Human Services” substituted for “Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare” in subsecs. (b) and (d)(2), pursuant to section 509(b) of Pub. L. 96–88 which is classified to section 3508(b) of Title 20, Education.

Effective Date

Pub. L. 86–571, § 11,
July 5, 1960, 74 Stat. 310, provided that: “This Act [enacting this chapter and repealing section 191a and 196a of this title] shall, except as otherwise specified, take effect on the date of its enactment [
July 5, 1960].”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

24 U.S.C. § 321

Title 24Hospitals and Asylums

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73