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Georgia Statutes, Title 37

Georgia/Statutes

← All Georgia coverage

Title 37

9 chapters · 272 sections in this title.

All chapters in Title 37272 Ch 3, EXAMINATION, TREATMENT, ETC., FOR ME…65 Ch 7, HOSPITALIZATION AND TREATMENT OF ALC…65 Ch 2, ADMINISTRATION OF MENTAL HEALTH, DEV…40 Ch 4, HABILITATION OF THE DEVELOPMENTALLY …37 Ch 1, GOVERNING AND REGULATION OF MENTAL H…32 Ch 9, PAYMENT OF EXPENSES FOR SUPPORT, TRE…12 Ch 5, COMMUNITY SERVICES FOR THE DEVELOPME…10 Ch 6, DAY-CARE CENTERS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT…8 Ch 10, INTERSTATE COMPACT ON MENTAL HEALTH3

65 sections·Filtered byTitle 37✕Ch 3✕

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-1 Deﬁnitions
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As used in this chapter, the term: (.1) ‘‘Available outpatient treatment’’ means outpatient treatment, either public or private, available in the patient’s community, including but not limited to supervision and support of the patient by family, friends, or other responsible pers…
O.C.G.A. § 37-3-2 Authority of board to issue regulations; powers of department generally
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(a) The board shall issue regulations to implement this chapter in accordance with the intent of this chapter to safeguard the rights of the mentally ill, as set forth in Code Sections 37-3-100, 37-3-101, and 37-3-120, and Article 6 of this chapter. (b) In addition to the other p…
O.C.G.A. § 37-3-3 Validity of hospitalization orders entered before September 1, 1978; establishment of regulations as to orders authorizing continued hospitalization of patients hospitalized before September 1, 1978
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No hospitalization of a mentally ill person lawful before September 1, 1978, shall be deemed unlawful because of the enactment of this chapter. The board is authorized to establish reasonable regulations to require that the chief medical officer of each treatment facility apply u…
O.C.G.A. § 37-3-4 Immunity from liability for actions taken in good faith compliance with admission and discharge provisions of chapter; immunity not applicable to failure to meet standard of care in provision of treat

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Any hospital or any physician, psychologist, peace officer, attorney, or health official, or any hospital official, agent, or other person employed by a private hospital or at a facility operated by the state, by a political subdivision of the state, or by a hospital authority cr…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-5 Apprehension by peace officer of patient who leaves facility without permission

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If, during the period of involuntary hospitalization pursuant to any valid physician’s certiﬁcate, court order, or order by the hearing examiner authorized by this chapter, a patient escapes or otherwise leaves a facility without permission, the facility may advise any peace offi…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-6 Approval of private facilities as emergency receiving, evaluating, or treatment facility; powers and duties of private facilities; right to deny admission

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Any private facility within this state may be approved as an emergency receiving facility, an evaluating facility, or a treatment facility by the department at the request of or with the consent of the governing officers of such private facility. When so approved, the private fac…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-7 Abandoning or leaving patients on grounds of psychiatric hospital

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Any person who abandons or leaves any patient on the grounds of any state owned or state operated psychiatric hospital without the permission of the regional state hospital administrator of the hospital commits the offense of criminal trespass. History. — Ga. L. 1918, p. 274, § 1…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-20 Admission of voluntary patients; consent of parent or guardian to treatment; giving notice of rights to patient at time of admission

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(a) The chief medical officer of any facility may receive for observation and diagnosis any patient 12 years of age or older making application therefor, any patient under 18 years of age for whom such application is made by his parent or guardian, and any patient who has been de…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-21 Discharge of voluntary patients upon recovery or termination of need for hospitalization; notice of discharge

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(a) The chief medical officer of the facility shall discharge any voluntary patient who has recovered from his mental illness or who has sufficiently improved that the chief medical officer determines, after consideration of the recommendations of the treatment team, that hospita…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-22 Right of voluntary patient to discharge upon application; exception; procedure on denial of application for discharge; notice of discharge

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(a) A voluntary patient, other than a minor child for whom admission has been sought by his parents or guardian, who has admitted himself to a facility pursuant to subsection (a) of Code Section 37-3-20 or any voluntary patient’s personal representative, legal guardian, parent, s…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-23 Giving voluntary patients periodic notice of rights

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At the time of his admission and each six months thereafter, any voluntary patient admitted to a facility under Code Section 37-3-20 or transferred to voluntary status under Code Section 37-3-24 shall be notiﬁed in writing of his right to discharge upon application under Code Sec…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-24 Transfer of involuntary patients to voluntary status; notice of transfer and of discharge of patients so transferred; discharge of transferred patient charged with criminal offense

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Any involuntary patient may apply to be transferred to voluntary status of hospitalization and shall be so transferred if he is able to understand and exercise the rights and powers of a voluntary patient unless the chief medical officer ﬁnds that this would not be in the best in…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-40 Designation by department of emergency receiving facilities; reporting; penalty for noncompliance

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(a) Any state owned and state operated facility may be designated by the department as an emergency receiving facility. The department shall maintain an emergency receiving facility at each Georgia regional hospital which shall accept, under Code Sections 37-3-41 through 37-3-44,…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-41 Emergency admission based on physician’s certiﬁcation or court order; report by apprehending officer; entry of treatment order into patient’s clinical record; authority of other personnel to act under

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(a) Any physician within this state may execute a certiﬁcate stating that he or she has personally examined a person within the preceding 48 hours and found that, based upon observations set forth in the certiﬁcate, such person appears to be a mentally ill person requiring involu…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-42 Emergency admission of persons arrested for penal offenses; report by officer; entry of report into clinical record

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(a) A peace officer may take any person to a physician within the county or an adjoining county for emergency examination by the physician, as provided in Code Section 37-3-41, or directly to an emergency receiving facility if (1) the person is committing a penal offense, and (2)…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-43 Procedure upon admission; notice of proposed discharge

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(a) A patient who is admitted to an emergency receiving facility shall be examined by a physician as soon thereafter as possible but in any event within 48 hours and may be given such emergency treatment as is indicated by good medical practice. The patient must be discharged wit…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-44 Giving person and representatives notice of their rights upon admission to emergency receiving facility

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(a) Immediately upon arrival of a person at an emergency receiving facility under Code Section 37-3-43 or as soon thereafter as reasonably possible given a person’s condition or mental state at the time of arrival, the facility shall give the person written notice of his or her r…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-60 Designation of evaluating facilities

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Any state owned or state operated facility may be designated by the department as an evaluating facility. The department shall maintain an evaluating facility at each Georgia regional hospital which shall accept, under Code Sections 37-3-61 through 37-3-65, patients found in any …

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-61 Initiation of proceedings for court ordered evaluation

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Proceedings for a court ordered evaluation may be initiated in the following manner: (1) Any person may ﬁle an application executed under oath with the community mental health center for a court ordered evaluation of a person located within that county who is alleged by such appl…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-62 Hearing on petition for court ordered evaluation; recipients of hearing notice; appointment of representatives; contents of notice; patient’s right to counsel; waiver of hearing; procedure upon issuan

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(a) The court shall review the petition ﬁled under Code Section 37-3-61 and, if it ﬁnds reasonable cause to believe that the patient may be a mentally ill person requiring involuntary treatment, the court shall hold a full and fair hearing on the petition no sooner than ten days …

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-63 Admission of persons to evaluating facilities for evaluation and emergency treatment

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Any person who is brought to an evaluating facility under Code Section 37-3-43 or under a court order as provided in Code Section 37-3-62 shall be received for evaluation and such treatment as is indicated by good medical practice. History. — Code 1933, § 88-505.4, enacted by Ga.…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-64 Length of detention in evaluating facility; discharge; procedure upon determination of need for hospitalization or involuntary treatment; recipients of notice of discharge from facility

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(a) A patient who has been admitted to an evaluating facility pursuant to Code Section 37-3-43, 37-3-63, or subparagraph (a)(3)(B) of Code Section 37-3-81.1 may be detained for a period not to exceed ﬁve days, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays excluded. The patient shall be discha…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-65 Request for transfer to another evaluating facility; recipients of notice of transfer

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Any patient admitted to an evaluating facility may apply to the chief medical officer of that facility for transfer at his own expense to any other approved evaluating facility. If the evaluating facility to which transfer is requested agrees to admit the patient, and if the pati…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-80 Designation of treatment facilities

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Any state owned or state operated facility may be designated by the department as a treatment facility. The department shall maintain a treatment facility at each regional hospital which shall accept patients found in any county in the service region of the hospital. Any other fa…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-81 Procedure for detention of patient beyond evaluation period; ﬁnal disposition

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(a) The patient may be detained at a facility beyond the evaluation period unless voluntary hospitalization is sought under subparagraph (a)(1)(A) of Code Section 37-3-64 only upon the recommendation of the chief medical officer of an evaluating facility where the patient has bee…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-81.1 Disposition of patient upon hearing

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(a) At those hearings required under subsection (c) of Code Section 37-3-81 and subsection (a) of Code Section 37-3-92, the court shall determine whether the patient is a mentally ill person requiring involuntary treatment and, if so, whether the patient is an inpatient or outpat…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-82 Procedure upon failure of or noncompliance with involuntary outpatient treatment plan

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(a) If at any time during a period of involuntary outpatient treatment, including but not limited to interim outpatient treatment arranged pursuant to subsection (b) of Code Section 37-3-91, the physician or psychologist in charge of the patient’s outpatient service plan determin…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-83 Procedure for continued involuntary hospitalization

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(a) If it is necessary to continue involuntary treatment of a hospitalized person who has mental illness beyond the end of the period during which the treatment facility is currently authorized under this chapter to retain such person, the chief medical officer prior to the expir…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-85 Periodic review of individualized service plan; procedure upon end of need for involuntary treatment; designation of discharge decision maker; notice of discharge or transfer to voluntary status

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(a) Each individualized service plan for a patient receiving involuntary inpatient treatment shall be reviewed at regular intervals to determine the patient’s progress toward the stated goals and objectives of the plan and to determine whether the plan should be modiﬁed because o…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-90 Physician’s or psychologist’s determination and certiﬁcation as to necessity of involuntary care; treatment of patient as inpatient or outpatient; minors

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(a) When a physician or psychologist at a facility or on behalf of a facility determines and certiﬁes under this article that there is reason to believe a patient admitted to or examined at the facility is a mentally ill person requiring involuntary treatment, that physician or p…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-91 Discharge of persons meeting outpatient care criteria

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(a) A person who is in the physical custody of a community mental health center, emergency receiving facility, or evaluating facility and who is determined by a physician or a psychologist, at or on behalf of that facility, to meet all of the outpatient treatment requirements of …

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-92 Hearing; notice; waiver of hearing; apprehension and detention of patient failing to appear; treatment upon waiver

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(a) Except when a hearing is waived as provided in this subsection, within 30 days after the ﬁling of the petition under subsection (d) of Code Section 37-3-91, the court shall hold a full and fair hearing. At least ten days prior to that hearing, the court shall have served on t…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-93 Court order for outpatient treatment; physician’s or psychologist’s petition to extend order; review of petition; hearing on extension petition; patients under juvenile court jurisdiction

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(a) Pursuant to Code Section 37-3-81.1 or Code Section 37-3-92, the court may order the patient to obtain available outpatient treatment for any period not to exceed one year, but the total period of involuntary treatment required by such order, including inpatient treatment with…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-94 Reviews of individual service plans; discharge of patients from treatment; notice of discharge

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(a) Each individualized service plan for available outpatient treatment shall be reviewed at regular intervals to determine the patient’s progress toward the stated goals and objectives of the plan and to determine whether the plan should be modiﬁed because of the patient’s prese…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-95 Discharge of patients under criminal charges

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Notwithstanding any other provisions of any part of this article, a patient under criminal charges, notice of which has been given in writing to the facility, may only be discharged from the physical custody of a facility if the facility, by certiﬁed mail or statutory overnight d…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-100 Placement and transfer of patients generally

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(a) The department may designate the state owned or state operated facility to which a patient is to be admitted under this chapter. The department may instead designate a private facility, approved under Code Section 37-3-6, to which the patient is to be admitted, if the departm…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-101 Transportation of patients generally

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(a) The governing authority of the county where the patient is found or located shall arrange for initial emergency transport of a patient to an emergency receiving facility. Except as otherwise authorized under subsection (b) of this Code section, the governing authority of the …

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-102 Transfer of patients to custody of federal agencies for diagnosis, care, or treatment; retention of jurisdiction by Georgia courts; jurisdiction in federal hospitals and institutions located in Georgi

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(a) If a patient ordered to be hospitalized pursuant to this chapter is eligible for hospital care or treatment by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or any other federal agency, the department shall transfer the patient to the custody of the nearest such agency wit…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-103 Procedure for transfer of Georgia residents from out-of-state hospitals to Georgia hospitals

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Upon application to the department by a parent, spouse, next of kin, or guardian or by an agency of another state in which the patient is hospitalized, a patient shall be eligible to be hospitalized in the State of Georgia if found by the department to be a legal resident of this…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-104 Procedure upon discovery that a patient hospitalized in Georgia is not a resident

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If a hospitalized patient is discovered not to be a resident, the regional state hospital administrator of the treatment facility in which the patient is hospitalized shall seek his transfer to the custody of authorities of the state of his residence or to a publicly owned or pub…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-120 Effect of inability to pay on right to care and treatment

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It is the policy of this state that no person shall be denied care and treatment for mental illness nor shall services be delayed at a facility of the state or a political subdivision of the state because of inability to pay for such care and treatment. History. — Code 1933, § 88…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-121 Liability for certain expenses of transporting, examining, and caring for patients

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(a) The responsibility for paying the expenses for transporting, examining, and caring for patients, which expenses are not provided for under Chapter 9 of this title, relating to the payment of costs of care of persons admitted to state institutions under the department, shall b…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-122 Payment of expenses incurred in connection with hearings held under this chapter

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(a) Except as provided in this Code section, the expenses of any hearing held under this chapter by a court or by a hearing examiner, including attorneys’ fees authorized by paragraph (1) of subsection (b) of this Code section and including hearing officer expenses authorized by …

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-140 Retention of rights and privileges by patients generally; right to due process

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Patients shall retain all rights and privileges granted other persons or citizens. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no person who is receiving or has received services for a mental illness shall be deprived of any civil, political, personal, or property…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-141 Patients’ right to legal counsel

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It shall be the responsibility of the department to see that every patient is given the opportunity to secure legal counsel at his own expense to represent him in connection with private, personal, domestic, business, civil, criminal, and all other legal matters in which he may b…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-142 Communication and visitation rights of patients; inspection, restriction, and censorship of patient correspondence; establishment of regulations governing visits and use of telephones

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(a) Each patient in a facility shall have the right to communicate freely and privately with persons outside the facility and to receive visitors inside the facility. (b) Except as otherwise provided in this Code section, each patient shall be allowed to receive and send sealed, …

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-143 Patients’ rights in regard to personal effects; liability of facility’s employees and staff members for loss of or damage to patients’ personal effects

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A patient’s rights to his personal effects shall be respected. The chief medical officer may take temporary custody of such effects when required for medical reasons. The facility shall make reasonable efforts to assure the safety of the patient’s belongings, but no employee or s…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-144 Patients’ right to vote

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Each patient in a facility who is eligible to vote shall be given his right to vote in primary, special, and general elections and in referendums. The superintendent or regional state hospital administrator of each facility shall permit and reasonably assist patients: (1) To obta…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-145 Employment of patients outside facilities

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If a patient wishes to be employed outside a facility and if such employment will aid in the patient’s treatment, he shall be assisted in his efforts to secure suitable employment and all beneﬁts ﬂowing from such employment. The department shall encourage such employment of patie…

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-146 Education of children undergoing treatment in a facility

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The rights of any child under treatment in a facility to an appropriate education at public expense shall not be abridged during hospitalization; and the special educational needs of each child shall be individually considered and respected. The Department of Behavioral Health an…