Chapter 123

Section 1. The following words as used in this section and sections two to thirty-seven, inclusive, shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the following meanings: ''Commissioner'', the commissioner of mental health. ''Department'', the department of mental health. ''D…

Section 10. (a) Pursuant to departmental regulations on admission procedures, the superintendent may receive and retain on a voluntary basis any person providing the person is in need of care and treatment and providing the admitting facility is suitable for such care and treatme…

Section 11. Any person retained in a facility under the provisions of paragraph (a) of section 10 shall be free to leave such facility at any time, and a parent or guardian who requested the admission of such person may withdraw such person at any time, upon giving written notice…

Section 12. (a) A physician who is licensed pursuant to section 2 of chapter 112, an advanced practice registered nurse authorized to practice as such under regulations promulgated pursuant to section 80B of said chapter 112, a qualified psychologist licensed pursuant to sections…

Section 13. If the superintendent of any facility determines that failure to retain a male resident therein in strict security would create a likelihood of serious harm by reason of mental illness and that the person's violent behavior constitutes an emergency, he may, with the c…

Section 14. Whenever the medical director of the Bridgewater state hospital certifies that the failure to retain any person in strict security would not create a likelihood of serious harm by reason of mental illness but that such person is in need of further care and treatment i…

Section 15. (a) Whenever a court of competent jurisdiction doubts whether a defendant in a criminal case is competent to stand trial or is criminally responsible by reason of mental illness or mental defect, it may at any stage of the proceedings after the return of an indictment…

Section 16. (a) The court having jurisdiction over the criminal proceedings may order that a person who has been found incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of mental illness or mental defect in such proceedings be hospitalized at a facility for a period of forty day…

Section 17. (a) The periodic review of a person found incompetent to stand trial shall include a clinical opinion with regard to the person's competence to stand trial, which opinion shall be noted in writing on the patient's record. If any person found incompetent to stand trial…

Section 18. (a) If the person in charge of any place of detention within the commonwealth has reason to believe that a person confined therein is in need of hospitalization by reason of mental illness at a facility of the department or at the Bridgewater state hospital, he shall …

Section 18A. A person who is a resident in a facility of the department of mental health or in the Bridgewater state hospital and who has funds held in trust for him by the department of mental health or the department of correction, shall contribute toward the cost of any counse…

Section 19. In order to determine the mental condition of any party or witness before any court of the commonwealth, the presiding judge may, in his discretion, request the department to assign a qualified physician or psychologist, who, if assigned shall make such examinations a…

Section 2. The department shall, in accordance with section two of chapter thirty A and subject to appropriation, adopt regulations consistent with this chapter which establish procedures and the highest practicable professional standards for the reception, examination, treatment…

Section 20. (a) The governor may upon demand deliver to the executive of any other state any person who has escaped from an institution for the mentally ill to which he has been committed under the laws of such state, and who may be dangerous to the safety of the public, or may u…

Section 21. Any person who transports a person with a mental illness to or from a facility for any purpose authorized under this chapter shall not use any restraint that is unnecessary for the safety of the person being transported or other persons likely to come in contact with …

Section 22. Physicians, qualified advanced practice registered nurses, qualified psychologists, qualified psychiatric nurse mental health clinical specialists, police officers and licensed independent clinical social workers shall be immune from civil suits for damages for restra…

Section 23. This section sets forth the statutory rights of all persons regardless of age receiving services from any program or facility, or part thereof, operated by, licensed by or contracting with the department of mental health, including persons who are in state hospitals o…

Section 23A. (a) For purposes of this section the following words shall have the following meanings: ''Non–English speaker'', a person who cannot speak or understand, or has difficulty with speaking or understanding, the English language because the speaker primarily or only uses…

Section 24. No person shall be deemed to be incompetent to manage his affairs, to contract, to hold professional or occupational or vehicle operators licenses or to make a will solely by reason of his admission or commitment in any capacity to the treatment or care of the departm…

Section 25. In addition to the periodic review under section four of this chapter, whenever the superintendent has reason to believe that a person who has been under the care of the department as an inpatient or resident for more than six months, who is not under guardianship or …

Section 26. (a) The superintendent may deposit in any bank organized and existing under the laws of the commonwealth funds belonging to persons who are inpatients or residents at such facility, funds deposited by relatives or friends of such persons, and other funds belonging to …

Section 27. If an inpatient or resident of any facility dies leaving an estate which does not exceed five thousand dollars in value, the superintendent shall notify the nearest living relative of such inpatient or resident of such fact, and if, after the expiration of thirty days…

Section 28. Upon the death of any person confined to a mental institution under the control of the department, the superintendent of such institution shall, if he is of the opinion that the death may have resulted from violence or unnatural causes, immediately notify the district…

Section 29. (a) In cooperation with other state departments and agencies the department shall cause to be given to persons under its care instruction and education as may be appropriate for such persons to undertake, especially persons who are unable to engage in programs for pat…

Section 2A. When promulgating regulations governing the contracting for services, the department shall establish within its regulations additional factors to be considered when contracting for services in geographically-isolated communities, including, but not limited to, travel …

Section 3. The department may transfer any person from any facility to any other facility which the department determines is suitable for the care and treatment of such person; provided that no transfer to a private facility shall occur except with the approval of the superintend…

Section 30. If a patient or resident in a facility of the department is absent without authorization the superintendent of the facility shall notify the state and local police, the district attorney of the county wherein the facility is located and the next of kin of such patient…

Section 31. Medicine and drugs shall be furnished free of charge to any patient at the outpatient clinic of a facility of the department who, in the opinion of the head of the facility or his representatives, is indigent and requires them. For the purpose of this section, the det…

Section 32. The department may make charges for the care of any person in its facilities. To the extent that any person in its facilities is eligible for third party payment of charges for care, the department shall make said charges for care at rates established by the executive…

Section 33. All necessary expenses attending the apprehension, examination, hearing, commitment or delivery of a mentally ill person, or an alleged alcoholic shall be allowed and certified by the judge if said person is committed pursuant to this chapter, and presented as often a…

Section 34. (a) The judgment or order of commitment by a court of competent jurisdiction of another state or of the district of Columbia, committing a person to the Veterans Administration or other agency of the United States government for care or treatment shall have the same f…

Section 35. For the purposes of this section the following terms shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings: ''Alcohol use disorder'', the chronic or habitual consumption of alcoholic beverages by a person to the extent that (1) such use sub…

Section 36. The department shall keep records of the admission, treatment and periodic review of all persons admitted to facilities under its supervision. Such records shall be private and not open to public inspection except (1) upon proper judicial order whether or not in conne…

Section 36A. All reports of examinations made to a court pursuant to sections one to eighteen, inclusive, section forty-seven and forty-eight shall be private except in the discretion of the court. All petitions for commitment, notices, orders of commitment and other commitment p…

Section 36B. (1) There shall be no duty owed by a licensed mental health professional to take reasonable precautions to warn or in any other way protect a potential victim or victims of said professional's patient, and no cause of action imposed against a licensed mental health p…

Section 36C. (a) A court that orders the commitment of a person pursuant to sections 7, 8 or 18 or subsection (e) of section 12 or subsection (b) of section 15 or subsection (b) or (c) of section 16, shall transmit the person's name and nonclinical, identifying information, inclu…

Section 4. Each person within the care of the department and each person at the Bridgewater state hospital under the provisions of this chapter relative to the mentally ill shall be the subject of a periodic review under the supervision of the superintendent, if said person is in…

Section 5. Whenever the provisions of this chapter require that a hearing be conducted in any court for the commitment or further retention of a person to a facility or to the Bridgewater state hospital or for medical treatment including treatment with antipsychotic medication, i…

Section 6. (a) No person shall be retained at a facility or at the Bridgewater state hospital except under the provisions of paragraph (a) of section ten, the provisions of paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of section twelve, section thirteen, paragraph (e) of section sixteen and sect…

Section 7. (a) The superintendent of a facility may petition the district court or the division of the juvenile court department in whose jurisdiction the facility is located for the commitment to said facility and retention of any patient at said facility whom said superintenden…

Section 8. (a) After a hearing, unless such hearing is waived in writing, the district court or the division of the juvenile court department shall not order the commitment of a person at a facility or shall not renew such order unless it finds after a hearing that (1) such perso…

[There is no 123:8A.]

Section 8B. (a) With respect to any patient who is the subject of a petition for a commitment or an order of a commitment for care and treatment under the provisions of sections seven, eight, fifteen, sixteen or eighteen, the superintendent of a facility or medical director of th…

Section 9. (a) Matters of law arising in commitment hearings, antipsychotic medication hearings or incompetency for trial proceedings in a district court may be reviewed by the appellate division of the district courts in the same manner as the civil cases generally. (b) Any pers…