Massachusetts Statutes

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…

Section 1. As used in this chapter the following words shall, except as otherwise provided, have the following meanings:— ''Agency with jurisdiction'', the agency with the authority to direct the release of a person presently incarcerated, confined or committed to the department …

Section 12. (a) Any agency with jurisdiction of a person who has ever been convicted of or adjudicated as a delinquent juvenile or a youthful offender by reason of a sexual offense as defined in section 1, regardless of the reason for the current incarceration, confinement or com…

Section 13. (a) If the court is satisfied that probable cause exists to believe that the person named in the petition is a sexually dangerous person, the prisoner or youth shall be committed to the treatment center for a period not exceeding 60 days for the purpose of examination…

Section 14. (a) The district attorney, or the attorney general at the request of the district attorney, may petition the court for a trial. In any trial held pursuant to this section, either the person named in the petition or the petitioning party may demand, in writing, that th…

Section 15. If a person who has been charged with a sexual offense has been found incompetent to stand trial and his commitment is sought and probable cause has been determined to exist pursuant to section 12, the court, without a jury, shall hear evidence and determine whether t…

Section 16. The department of correction and the department of youth services shall annually prepare reports describing the treatment offered to each person who has been committed to the treatment center or the department of youth services as a sexually dangerous person and, with…

Section 2. The commissioner of correction shall maintain subject to the jurisdiction of the department of correction a treatment program or branch thereof at a correctional institution for the care, custody, treatment and rehabilitation of persons adjudicated as being sexually da…

Section 2A. An individual committed as sexually dangerous and who has also been sentenced for a criminal offense and said sentence has not expired may be transferred from the treatment center to another correctional institution designated by the commissioner of correction. In det…

Section 6A. Any person committed as a sexually dangerous person to the treatment center or a branch thereof under the provisions of this chapter shall be held in the most appropriate level of security required to ensure protection of the public, correctional staff, himself and ot…

Section 9. Any person committed to the treatment center shall be entitled to file a petition for examination and discharge once in every twelve months. Such petition may be filed by either the committed person, his parents, spouse, issue, next of kin or any friend. The department…

Section 1. The following words as used in this chapter shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the following meanings: ''Commissioner'', the commissioner of developmental services. ''Department'', the department of developmental services. ''Dependent funds'', those fun…

Section 10. 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 11. 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 a resident for more than six months, who is not under guardianship or conservatorshi…

Section 12. (a) The superintendent may deposit in any bank organized and existing under the laws of the commonwealth funds belonging to persons who are residents at such facility, funds deposited by relatives or friends of such persons, and other funds belonging to such persons e…