Title 25, Mental and Physical Illness or Disability

The provisions of this chapter are intended by the legislative assembly to: 1. Provide prompt evaluation and treatment of persons with serious mental disorders or a substance use disorder. 2. Safeguard individual rights. 3. Provide continuity of care for persons with serious ment…

In this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise: 1. "Advanced practice registered nurse" means an individual who is licensed as an advanced practice registered nurse under chapter 43-12.1 within the role of certified nurse practitioner or certified clinical nurse specialis…

The district courts have original jurisdiction over the proceedings governed by this chapter.

A treating facility or mental health professional may disclose individually identifiable health information to a court, state-operated behavioral health clinic, state's attorney, appointed counsel, retained counsel, or other mental health professional, including an expert examine…

Under rules adopted by the department, screening of an individual to a public treatment facility for observation, diagnosis, care, or treatment for mental illness or a substance use disorder must be performed, in person when reasonably practicable, by a state-operated behavioral …

Any voluntary patient who has recovered, or whose treatment the superintendent or director determines is no longer advisable, must be discharged. If, upon discharge, it is determined that the individual would benefit from the receipt of further treatment, the superintendent or di…

An individual voluntarily admitted for inpatient treatment to a treatment facility or the state hospital must be orally advised of the right to release and must be further advised in writing of the rights under this chapter. A voluntary patient who requests release must be immedi…

An individual may not be involuntarily admitted under this chapter to the state hospital or another treatment facility unless it is determined the individual is a person requiring treatment.

1. An individual eighteen years of age or over shall present, in good faith, the information necessary for the commitment of an individual for involuntary treatment to the state's attorney of the county in which the respondent is presently located, or which is the respondent's pl…

1. Upon the filing of a petition for involuntary treatment, the clerk of court shall immediately notify the magistrate who shall review the petition and accompanying documentation to determine whether it complies with requirements of section 25-03.1-08 and whether it establishes …

If the petition is not accompanied by a written supportive statement of a tier 1 mental health professional or a licensed addiction counselor who has examined the respondent within the last forty-five days, the court shall order the respondent be examined by an expert examiner of…

For purposes of court-ordered examinations conducted under this chapter, an expert examiner may use telemedicine technologies to assist the expert examiner in conducting those examinations.

1. The respondent must be examined within a reasonable time by an expert examiner as ordered by the court. If the respondent is taken into custody under the emergency treatment provisions of this chapter, the examination must be conducted within the time limitations set forth in …

With the consent of the court, the parties may waive the preliminary hearing and conduct the treatment hearing within the time period set for the preliminary hearing.

The court shall cause notice of a petition and of the time and place of any hearings under this chapter to be given to the respondent; the respondent's parents, if a minor; the respondent's attorney; the petitioner; the state's attorney; the superintendent or the director of any …

1. Every respondent under this chapter is entitled to legal counsel. The counsel has access to the respondent's medical records upon proof of representation. 2. Unless an appearance has been entered on behalf of the respondent, the court shall, within twenty-four hours, exclusive…

Unless the petitioner has retained an attorney, the state's attorney for the county in which proceedings under this chapter are initiated shall appear and represent the state in all court proceedings and hearings. The state's attorney or an attorney retained by the petitioner nee…

The respondent must be present at all hearings unless the respondent waives the right to be present either orally or in writing. A respondent's refusal to attend a hearing is presumed to be a waiver of the right to be present at the hearing. The judge must be notified if the resp…

A patient who has requested release or an individual who is the subject of a petition for treatment has the right to refuse medication and other forms of treatment before the preliminary or treatment hearing. However, a physician, a physician assistant, or an advanced practice re…

1. A respondent who is in custody under section 25-03.1-25 and who is alleged to be a mentally ill person or to be a person who is both mentally ill and has a substance use disorder is entitled to a preliminary hearing. a. At the preliminary hearing the court shall review the med…

The superintendent or the director may release a patient subject to a fourteen-day evaluation and treatment order or a seven-day emergency order if, in the superintendent's or director's opinion, the respondent does not meet the criteria of a person requiring treatment or, before…

1. a. Upon notice and hearing, a tier 1b mental health professional may request authorization from the court to treat an individual under a mental health treatment order, or an individual voluntarily admitted to a public treatment facility under section 25-03.1-04, with prescribe…

Notwithstanding sections 25-03.1-16, 25-03.1-18.1, and 25-03.1-24, if a patient refuses treatment with prescribed medication, a treating physician, physician assistant, clinical nurse specialist, or advanced practice registered nurse may treat the patient with prescribed mood sta…

1. The involuntary treatment hearing, unless waived by the respondent or the respondent has been released as a person not requiring treatment, must be held within fourteen days of the preliminary hearing. If the preliminary hearing is not required, the involuntary treatment heari…

If an individual is found at the involuntary treatment hearing to be a person requiring treatment, the findings and conclusions must be entered in the record of the proceedings and the court may: 1. Order the individual to undergo a program of treatment other than hospitalization…

1. Before the court makes a decision in an involuntary treatment hearing, the court shall review a report assessing the availability and appropriateness for the respondent of treatment programs other than hospitalization which has been prepared and submitted by the state hospital…

1. An order for involuntary treatment following a preliminary hearing may not exceed fourteen days. An order for involuntary treatment following a treatment hearing may not exceed ninety days. 2. If the director or superintendent believes a patient continues to require treatment,…

A petition for an order authorizing continuing treatment must contain a statement setting forth the specific facts that are the basis of the determination the patient continues to be a person requiring treatment; a statement describing the treatment program provided to the patien…

State hospital or treatment facility personnel may treat a patient with prescribed medication or a less restrictive alternative if, in the opinion of a psychiatrist or physician, these treatments are necessary to prevent bodily harm to the patient or others or to prevent imminent…

1. When a peace officer, physician either in person or directing an emergency medical services professional, psychiatrist, physician assistant, psychologist, advanced practice registered nurse, or mental health professional has reasonable cause to believe that an individual is a …

1. A public treatment facility immediately shall accept and a private treatment facility may accept on a provisional basis the application and the individual admitted under section 25-03.1-25. The superintendent or director shall require an immediate examination of the subject. 2…

1. If an individual is detained for emergency evaluation and treatment under this chapter, the superintendent or director shall cause both the patient and, if possible, a responsible member of the patient's immediate family, a guardian, or a friend, if any, to receive: a. A copy …

A record must be made of all court hearings conducted under this chapter and a copy must be provided to the respondent upon request for purposes of appellate review of the proceedings. If the respondent is indigent, the copy must be provided free of charge, with the expense there…

1. The respondent has the right to an expedited appeal from an order of involuntary commitment or alternative treatment, an order modifying a treatment order, an alternative treatment order or less restrictive treatment order, a continuing treatment order, an order denying a peti…

1. The superintendent or director at any time may discharge a voluntarily hospitalized patient who is clinically suitable for discharge. 2. The superintendent or director shall discharge a patient hospitalized by court order if the patient's mental condition is such that the pati…

1. If the director or superintendent believes that a respondent continues to be a person requiring treatment, the director or superintendent, not less than thirty days before expiration of the order, shall petition the court where the facility is located for another continuing tr…

1. No determination that a person requires treatment, no court order authorizing hospitalization or alternative treatment, nor any form of admission to a hospital gives rise to a presumption of, constitutes a finding of, or operates as an adjudication of legal incompetence, or of…

1. The superintendent or director of a treatment facility may transfer, or authorize the transfer of, an involuntary patient from a hospital to another facility if the superintendent or director determines it would be consistent with the medical needs of the patient to do so. Due…

The commissioner of the department of health and human services or designee, a county, a city, or a local law enforcement agency may enter into reciprocal agreements with the appropriate authorities of any other state regarding the mutual exchange, return, and transportation of i…

1. For purposes of this section, "bordering state" means Minnesota, Montana, or South Dakota. 2. Unless prohibited by another law and subject to the exceptions in subsection 4, the department may contract with: a. An appropriate treatment or detoxification facility in a bordering…

1. If a respondent under this chapter is eligible for treatment by any agency of the United States, the court, upon receipt of notice from that agency showing that facilities are available and that the individual is eligible for care or treatment therein, may order the respondent…

If any patient escapes from a treatment facility, the superintendent or director may cause an immediate search to be made. If the patient cannot be found, the superintendent or director shall cause notice of the escape to be given forthwith to the court of the county of residence…

The superintendent or director of a treatment facility, by means of nonidentifying data, shall notify the department of all admissions under this chapter to the state hospital or facility. In addition to the specific authority granted under the provisions of this chapter, the dep…

All expenses of the district court serving Stutsman County involving patients in residence at the state hospital must be paid by the state hospital under the direction of the department.

Whenever an individual is about to be involuntarily hospitalized under the provisions of this chapter, an official or person designated by the court shall arrange for the individual's transportation to the treatment facility with suitable medical or nursing attendants and by such…

Each patient of a treatment facility retains the following rights, subject only to the limitations and restrictions authorized by section 25-03.1-41. A patient has the right: 1. To receive appropriate treatment for mental and physical ailments and for the prevention of illness or…

The rights enumerated in subsections 5, 6, 7, and 8 of section 25-03.1-40 may be limited or restricted by the treating physician, physician assistant, psychiatrist, advanced practice registered nurse, or psychologist trained in a clinical program, if in that individual's professi…

1. A person acting in good faith upon either actual knowledge or reliable information which makes the petition for involuntary treatment of an individual under this chapter is not subject to civil or criminal liability. 2. A physician, physician assistant, psychiatrist, psycholog…

All information and records obtained in the course of an investigation, an evaluation, an examination, or treatment under this chapter and the presence or past presence of a patient in a treatment facility are confidential, but the information and records may be disclosed to and …

Following the discharge of a respondent from a treatment facility or the state hospital or the issuance of a court order denying a petition for commitment, a respondent may at any time move to have all court records pertaining to the proceedings expunged on condition that the res…