Title 21 — Fiduciary Relations and Persons with Mental Illness. [Enacted title]

As used in the chapter: (1) “Administrator” means a person in charge of a public or private hospital or his delegate; (1A) “Chief clinical officer” means the psychiatrist or qualified psychologist for the Department who is responsible for coordinating the treatment of persons rec…

(a) Qualified psychologists are subject to the restrictions and qualifications for practice contained in the District of Columbia Health Occupations Revision Act of 1985, effective March 25, 1986 (D.C. Law 6-99; D.C. Official Code § 3-1201.01 et seq.). (b) Whenever a qualified ps…

(a) The Commission on Mental Health is continued. The Chief Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia shall appoint the members of the Commission, and the Commission shall be composed of 9 members and an alternate chairperson. One member shall be a magistrate judge …

(a) The Commission shall examine alleged mentally ill persons, inquire into their affairs and the affairs of persons who may be legally liable for their support, and make reports and recommendations to the court. (b) Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, the Commission ma…

(a) A person may apply to a public or private hospital, the Department, or any mental health provider in the District of Columbia to become a voluntary patient for the purposes of observation, diagnosis, and care and treatment of a mental illness. Upon the request of a person 18 …

(a) A person accepted for voluntary treatment by a hospital, the Department, or a mental health provider, pursuant to section 21-511 may, at any time, if the person is 18 years of age or over, obtain his or her release from the hospital or other treatment by filing a written requ…

A friend or relative of a person believed to have a mental illness may apply on behalf of that person to the admitting psychiatrist or the admitting qualified psychologist of a hospital by presenting the person, together with a referral from a practicing physician or qualified ps…

Unless proceedings for hospitalization under court order have been initiated under subchapter IV of this chapter, a hospital, upon the written request of a patient hospitalized pursuant to section 21-513 , shall immediately release him.

An accredited officer or agent of the Department of Mental Health of the District of Columbia, or an officer authorized to make arrests in the District of Columbia, or a physician or qualified psychologist of the person in question, who has reason to believe that a person is ment…

(a) Subject to the provisions of section 21-523, the administrator of a private hospital may, and the administrator of a public hospital or the chief clinical officer of the Department or his designee shall, admit and detain for purposes of emergency observation and diagnosis a p…

A person admitted to a hospital or the Department under section 21-522 may not be detained in the hospital or by the Department for a period in excess of 48 hours from the time of the person’s admission, unless the administrator of the hospital, the chief clinical officer of the …

(a) Within a period of 24 hours after the court receives a petition for hospitalization of a person for emergency observation and diagnosis, filed by the administrator of a hospital or chief clinical officer of the Department pursuant to section 21-523, the court shall: (1) order…

The court shall grant a hearing to a person whose continued hospitalization is ordered under section 21-524 , if he requests the hearing. The hearing shall be held within 24 hours after receipt of the request.

(a) If the maximum period of time prescribed by section 21-512, 21-523, 21-524, 21-525 or 21-548, during which an action or determination may or shall be taken, expires on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the period may be extended to not later than noon of the next succeedi…

(a)(1) The chief clinical officer of the Department or the chief of service of a hospital in which a person is hospitalized under a court order entered pursuant to section 21-524 shall, within 48 hours after the order is entered, have the person examined by a psychiatrist or qual…

Repealed.

(a) Proceedings for the judicial commitment of a person in the District of Columbia may be commenced by the filing of a petition with the Commission by his spouse, parent, or legal guardian, by a physician or a qualified psychologist, by a duly accredited officer or agent of the …

(a) The Commission shall promptly examine a person alleged to be mentally ill after the filing of a petition under section 21-541 and shall thereafter promptly hold a hearing on the issue of his mental illness. The hearing shall be conducted in a manner consistent with orderly pr…

(a) The person alleged to be mentally ill and, because of the mental illness, likely to injure himself or others shall be represented by counsel in any proceeding before the Commission or the court, and if he fails or refuses to obtain counsel, the court shall appoint counsel to …

If the Commission finds, after a hearing under section 21-542 , that the person with respect to whom the hearing was held is not mentally ill or if mentally ill, is not mentally ill to the extent that he is likely to injure himself or other persons if not committed, the Commissio…

(a) Upon the receipt by the court of a report referred to in section 21-544, the court shall promptly set the matter for hearing and shall cause a written notice of the time and place of the final hearing to be served personally upon the person with respect to whom the report was…

(a) At least 60 days prior to the expiration of an order of commitment issued pursuant to section 21-545 or this section, the chief clinical officer of the Department, or the chief of service of the facility, hospital, or mental health provider to which the person is committed ma…

(a) A person who has been committed for treatment pursuant to section 21-545 or section 21-545.01 shall be monitored by the chief clinical officer or the chief of service for the facility, hospital, or mental health provider to which the person has been committed. In doing so, th…

(a) In considering a petition filed under section 21-546, the court shall consider the testimony of the psychiatrists or qualified psychologists who participated in the examination of the committed person, and the reports of the psychiatrists or qualified psychologists accompanyi…

(a) A person who has been committed under section 21-545 or section 21-545.01 and is receiving outpatient treatment may be transferred to a more restrictive treatment setting, including inpatient hospitalization, or a facility certified for emergency observation and diagnosis, pu…

Nothing in this chapter prohibits a person from exercising a right presently available to him for obtaining release from confinement, including the right to petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

The court in its discretion may require a petitioner under this subchapter to file an undertaking with surety to be approved by the court in such amount as the court deems proper, conditioned to save harmless the respondent by reason of costs incurred, including attorney’s fees, …

(a) If a person ordered committed to the Department by the court pursuant to section 21-545 is found by the Commission, subject to a review by the court, not to be a resident of the District of Columbia, and to be a resident of another place, he shall be transferred to the State …

(a) A person hospitalized in a public or private hospital pursuant to this chapter, or committed under sections 21-545, 21-545.01, or 21-548, may exercise the right to communicate with others as set forth in the Mental Health Consumers’ Rights Protection Act of 2001, effective De…

A person detained as an emergency involuntary patient by or committed to the care of the Department, a provider, or a hospital for mental illness shall, during the detention or commitment, be entitled to medical and psychiatric care and treatment. The administrator or director of…

A person who is hospitalized in a public or private hospital pursuant to this chapter has the right to be free from seclusion and restraint of any form that is not medically necessary or that is used as a means of coercion, discipline, convenience, or retaliation by staff, pursua…

(a) A person admitted or committed for treatment pursuant to this chapter may not, by reason of the admission or treatment, be denied the right to dispose of property, execute instruments, make purchases, enter into contractual relationships, vote, and hold a driver’s license, un…

Upon the admission of a person to a hospital under a provision of this chapter, the administrator shall deliver to him, and to his spouse, domestic partner, parents, or other nearest known adult relative, a written statement outlining in simple, nontechnical language all release …

Proceedings instituted by the Mayor of the District of Columbia to determine the mental condition of an alleged indigent mentally ill person or a person alleged to be mentally ill, with homicidal or otherwise dangerous tendencies, shall be according to the provisions of subchapte…

(a) A petition, application, or certificate authorized under section 21-521, section 21-541(a), section 21-545.01, or section 21-548 may not be considered if made by a psychiatrist, physician, or qualified psychologist who: (1) Is related by blood, marriage, or domestic partnersh…

A physician, psychiatrist or qualified psychologist making application or conducting an examination under this chapter is a competent and compellable witness at any trial, hearing or other proceeding conducted pursuant to this chapter and the physician- or psychologist-patient pr…

Witnesses subpoenaed under the provisions of this chapter shall be paid the same fees and mileage as are paid to other witnesses in the court.

A person apprehended, detained, or hospitalized under any provision of this chapter may not be confined in jail or in a penal or correctional institution.

(a) The father, mother, husband, wife, and adult children of a mentally ill person, if of sufficient ability, and the estate of the mentally ill person, if the estate is sufficient for the purpose, shall pay the cost to the District of Columbia of the mentally ill person’s mainte…

This chapter does not require the admission of a person to a Veterans’ Administration or military hospital facility unless the person is otherwise eligible for care and treatment in the facility.

All applications and certificates for the hospitalization of a person in the District of Columbia under this chapter shall be made on forms approved by the Commission on Mental Health and furnished by it.

(a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, the provisions of sections 21-546 to 21-551, subchapter V of this chapter and sections 21-585 and 21-588 apply to a person, who, on or after January 1, 1966, is a patient in a hospital in the District of Columbia by reason of having …

(a) The commitment of a person committed under section 21-545 for an indeterminate period of time shall expire 548 days after December 10, 2004, unless the chief clinical officer of the Department, facility, hospital, or mental health provider has petitioned for recommitment of t…

Repealed Repealed.

Whoever: (1) without probable cause for believing a person to be mentally ill: (A) causes or conspires with or assists another person to cause the hospitalization, under this chapter, of the person first referred to; or (B) executes a petition, application, or certificate pursuan…

When a person has been ordered confined in a hospital or institution for the mentally ill pursuant to this chapter and has left such hospital or institution without authorization or has failed to return as directed, the court which ordered confinement shall, upon the request of t…