Title 36, Public Health and Safety

A. There shall be no cause of action against a mental health provider nor shall legal liability be imposed for breaching a duty to prevent harm to a person caused by a patient, unless both of the following occur: 1. The patient has communicated to the mental health provider an ex…

A. Pursuant to rules of the administration, any person who is eighteen years of age or older and who manifests the capacity to give and gives informed consent may be hospitalized for evaluation, care and treatment by voluntarily applying in writing on a prescribed form. The agenc…

A. The medical director of a mental health agency shall review the case progress of all minors admitted voluntarily to the agency at least every ten days. The review shall establish the appropriateness of continued placement in a mental health agency according to progress in care…

A. The medical director of the agency shall discharge any patient admitted voluntarily who has recovered or who is no longer benefiting from the evaluation, care or treatment available, except as provided in subsection B of this section. B. Upon written request by a patient admit…

A. Any responsible individual may apply for a court-ordered evaluation of a person who is alleged to be, as a result of a mental disorder, a danger to self or to others or a person with a persistent or acute disability or a grave disability and who is unwilling or unable to under…

A. On receiving the application for evaluation, the screening agency, before filing a petition for court-ordered evaluation, shall provide prepetition screening within forty-eight hours excluding weekends and holidays when possible to determine whether there is reasonable cause t…

A. A person who has a substance use disorder without any co-occurring mental disorder may not be considered for involuntary treatment pursuant to article 5 of this chapter. A person who initially presents with impairments consistent with both a mental disorder and a substance use…

A. On receipt of an application for court-ordered evaluation, if the petition for court-ordered evaluation is not filed because it has been determined that the proposed patient will voluntarily receive an evaluation and is unlikely to present a danger to self or others until the …

A. The petition for evaluation shall contain the following: 1. The name, address and interest in the case of the individual who applied for the petition. 2. The name, and address if known, of the proposed patient for whom evaluation is petitioned. 3. The present whereabouts of th…

A. A written application for emergency admission shall be made to an evaluation agency before a person may be hospitalized in the agency. B. The application for emergency admission shall be made by a person with knowledge of the facts requiring emergency admission. The applicant …

A. If the procedures set forth in section 36-524 are not available, a peace officer may take into custody any individual the peace officer has probable cause to believe is, as a result of mental disorder, a danger to self or others, and if during the time necessary to complete th…

A. On presentation of the person for emergency admission, an admitting officer of an evaluation agency shall perform an examination of the person's psychiatric and physical condition and may admit the person to the agency as an emergency patient if the admitting officer finds, as…

A. A person taken into custody for emergency admission may not be detained longer than twenty-four hours excluding weekends and holidays following such detention unless a petition for court-ordered evaluation is filed. B. A person admitted for emergency evaluation may be released…

A. A person detained under emergency detention shall be offered treatment for his mental disorder to which he may consent. The person shall not be treated for his mental disorder without his express consent, except that seclusion and mechanical or pharmacological restraints may b…

A. If, from the review of the petition for evaluation, the court does not determine that the proposed patient is likely to present a danger to self or others or further deteriorate before the proposed patient's hearing on court-ordered treatment, but determines that there is reas…

A. A person who is admitted to an evaluation agency shall receive an evaluation as soon as possible after the court's order for evaluation and, subject to the provisions of sections 36-512 and 36-513 concerning the person's right to refuse treatment, receive care and treatment as…

A. A person who is being evaluated on an inpatient basis in an evaluation agency shall be released if, in the opinion of the medical director of the agency, further evaluation is not appropriate unless the person applies for further care and treatment on a voluntary basis. B. If …

A. The petition for court-ordered treatment shall allege: 1. That the patient is in need of a period of treatment because the patient, as a result of mental disorder, is a danger to self or to others or has a persistent or acute disability or a grave disability. 2. The treatment …

A. If, after a petition for court-ordered treatment has been filed and prior to the hearing, the medical director of the evaluation agency finds that it is more appropriate to discharge the patient or to admit the proposed patient on a voluntary basis, the medical director, after…

A. If, on the filing of a petition for court-ordered treatment, the patient is not then detained in an agency, the court shall order the detention of the patient in the agency that conducted the evaluation if the court determines that the patient is likely to present a danger to …

A. At least seventy-two hours before the court conducts the hearing on the petition for court-ordered treatment, a copy of the petition, affidavits in support of the petition and the notice of the hearing shall be served on the patient, who shall be informed of the purpose of the…

A. The medical director of the agency that conducted the evaluation, at least seventy-two hours before the hearing, shall make available to the patient's attorney copies of the petition for evaluation, the prepetition screening report, the evaluation report, the patient's medical…

At all hearings conducted pursuant to sections 36-539, 36-543 and 36-546, a person has the right to have an analysis of the person's mental condition by an independent evaluator. If the person is unable to afford an evaluation, the court shall appoint an independent evaluator acc…

A. The medical director of the evaluation agency shall issue instructions to the physicians or the psychiatric and mental health nurse practitioner of the evaluation agency who is treating the proposed patient to take all reasonable precautions to ensure that at the time of the h…

A. If the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the proposed patient, as a result of mental disorder, is a danger to self, is a danger to others or has a persistent or acute disability or a grave disability and is in need of treatment, and is either unwilling or unabl…

A. The medical director may issue an order for conditional outpatient treatment for a patient ordered to undergo treatment pursuant to section 36-540 if, after consultation with staff familiar with the patient's case history, the medical director determines with a reasonable degr…

A. A person who does not have a guardian under section 14-5312.01 and who has been found by the court to have a grave disability and ordered to undergo treatment pursuant to this article may receive care in another health care institution licensed by the department during the cou…

A. A patient who is ordered by a court to undergo treatment and who is not hospitalized in the state hospital at the time of the order shall undergo treatment for at least twenty-five days in a local mental health treatment agency that is geographically convenient for the patient…

A. A patient who is found to have a grave disability or a persistent or acute disability and who is ordered to undergo treatment pursuant to this article may be released from inpatient treatment when, in the opinion of the medical director of the mental health treatment agency, t…

A. A patient ordered by a court to undergo treatment pursuant to this article shall be discharged from treatment at the expiration of the period of treatment ordered unless one of the following occurs: 1. The person accepts voluntary treatment at the mental health treatment agenc…

A. Within ninety days before the expiration of a court order for treatment, the medical director of the mental health treatment agency shall conduct an annual review of a patient who has been found to have a grave disability or a persistent or acute disability and who is undergoi…

A. When any patient who is being evaluated or treated is absent without proper authorization from an evaluation agency or a mental health treatment agency, or when an order for outpatient treatment is rescinded, any peace officer shall, upon oral or written request of the medical…

The director shall establish the amount which will fully reimburse the state for the expense of examining, evaluating, treating and maintaining the patient. The state hospital shall charge the patient all or such portion of the established amount as the patient can afford. If the…

A. When a patient is admitted to the state hospital for court-ordered treatment pursuant to article 5 of this chapter or pursuant to section 13-3992, the business manager of the state hospital shall inquire into the ability of the patient to pay the costs of examination, maintena…

All monies collected pursuant to sections 36-545 and 36-545.01 for examination, evaluation, treatment and maintenance of patients shall be deposited, pursuant to sections 35-146 and 35-147, in the state general fund.

All costs in connection with a patient hospitalized in a private or voluntary nonprofit facility, including costs for evaluation, shall be borne by the patient, his parents, spouse, guardian or estate and shall not be a charge against the state or county except as provided in sec…

A. Except as provided in this chapter, costs of court proceedings and cost of services provided by a county pursuant to article 4 are a charge against the county in which the patient resided or was found before hospitalization. The clerk of the superior court in the county where …

A. When a person is given a prepetition screening, or a court-ordered evaluation by a screening agency or evaluation agency pursuant to article 4 of this chapter, the person shall not be charged. B. When a person is given a voluntary evaluation pursuant to section 36-522, the per…

A. Each county, or any combination of counties, shall provide directly or by contract the services of a screening agency and an evaluation agency for the purposes of this chapter. B. On a request made by a resident of the county pursuant to this chapter, a county shall be require…

A. The administration may enter into contracts with screening agencies, evaluation agencies and mental health treatment agencies to provide prepetition screenings, court-ordered evaluations, voluntary evaluations, treatment of voluntary patients and treatment of patients under se…

A. The Arizona state hospital fund is established for the purposes prescribed in section 36-545.01, subsection I. The department of health services shall administer the fund. The fund consists of the following: 1. Monies reimbursed by the federal government under title XIX of the…

Subject to legislative approval a building renewal fund is established for the purpose of major maintenance of the state owned properties located at 1930 east 6th street and 2075 north 6th avenue, Tucson, Arizona. The building renewal fund shall be subject to legislative appropri…

A. In addition to the procedure for applying for a writ of habeas corpus, as provided in title 13, chapter 38, article 26, a patient receiving court-ordered treatment or any person acting on the patient's behalf may request the patient's release pursuant to the following: 1. A re…

An order for court ordered treatment may be reviewed by appeal to the court of appeals as prescribed in the Arizona rules of civil procedure or by special action. Such appeal or special action shall be entitled to preference.

A. Whenever, in any proceeding under the laws of this state for the court-ordered treatment of a person alleged to be, as a result of a mental disorder, a danger to self or to others, with a persistent or acute disability or a grave disability, it is determined after such adjudic…

In this article, unless the context otherwise requires: 1. "Administration" means the Arizona health care cost containment system administration. 2. "Community residential treatment system" means a statewide system of community-based residential treatment programs for the serious…