Title 44, Health

The provisions of this chapter, Chapter 9, Chapter 11, Chapter 13, Article 1 of Chapter 15, Chapter 17 and Chapter 27, shall not be construed as applying to Whitten Center.

A person confined in a state institution or a person confined in a state or private mental health or intellectual disability facility may be transferred to another mental health or intellectual disability facility if: (1) the director of a state institution not under the jurisdic…

No person who is mentally ill or who has an intellectual disability shall be confined for safekeeping in any jail. If it appears to the officer in charge of the jail that such a person is in prison, he shall immediately cause the person to be examined by two examiners designated …

Any person who wilfully causes, or conspires with or assists another to cause the unwarranted confinement of any individual under the provisions of this chapter, Chapter 9, Chapter 11, Chapter 13, Article 1, of Chapter 15, Chapter 17, or Chapter 27, shall be fined not exceeding o…

Whenever reference is made requiring the signature of the director of any state mental health facility, the reference means the director of the facility or the director's designee.

Any person affected by the rules and regulations of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities adopted pursuant to Section 44-9-100 shall have the right to appeal therefrom to any court of record.

(A) Whenever a judge of the circuit court or family court has reason to believe that a person on trial before him, charged with the commission of a criminal offense or civil contempt, is not fit to stand trial because the person lacks the capacity to understand the proceedings ag…

(A) Within ten days of examination under Section 44-23-410(A)(1) or at the conclusion of the observation period under Section 44-23-410(A)(2), the designated examiners shall make a written report to the court which shall include: (1) a diagnosis of the person's mental condition; …

(A) Upon receiving the report of the designated examiners, the court shall set a date for and notify the person and his counsel of a hearing on the issue of his fitness to stand trial. If, in the judgment of the designated examiners or the superintendent of the facility if the pe…

A finding of unfitness to stand trial under Section 44-23-430 does not preclude any legal objection to the prosecution of the individual which is susceptible of fair determination prior to trial and without the personal participation of the defendant. If either the person found u…

A finding of unfitness to stand trial under Section 44-23-430 may be reexamined by the court upon its own motion, or that of the prosecuting attorney, the person found unfit to stand trial, his legal guardian, or his counsel. Upon receipt of the petition, the court shall order an…

When the superintendent of a hospital or intellectual disability facility believes that a person against whom criminal charges are pending no longer requires hospitalization, the court in which criminal charges are pending shall be notified and shall set a date for and notify the…

As used in this chapter: (1) "Child" means a person under the age of eighteen years. (2) "Child in need of emergency admission" means a child who is in need of treatment, who poses an imminent danger of seriously harming himself or others if not immediately hospitalized, and for …

Notice of the hearing for an emergency admission or a judicial admission must be given to the child or his guardian, his counsel, and other interested persons at least five days before the hearing, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. The notice must include the t…

(A) The written reports filed with the court by the designated examiners must include, but are not limited to, questions relating to whether or not the child poses an imminent danger to himself or others, whether or not recent overt acts are indicative of a child in need of treat…

The child or the child's guardian may request removal of the proceedings to another county of the State when the convenience of witnesses and the ends of justice require it. When the place of the proceedings is changed, all other proceedings must be held in the county to which th…

A person to whom notice is required may appear at the hearing, testify and, within the discretion of the court, present and cross-examine witnesses, and the court may receive the testimony of other persons. The court may hold the hearing in a suitable location in the State, witho…

(A) If the court finds, after presentation of all the evidence, that the child is not in need of judicial admission, the court shall order that he must be discharged if he has been hospitalized before the hearing. (B) If upon completion of the hearing and consideration of the rec…

(A) A family court may order that a child, who is otherwise before the court on another matter, be given a psychiatric evaluation by the appropriate community mental health center. The community mental health center shall schedule the child for the ordered evaluation as soon as p…

A child admitted to an inpatient treatment program must be examined by a member of the professional staff of the program promptly after his admission and must be reviewed by the treatment team within seven days after admission. Promptly after the treatment team review, a formal p…

(A) A child is entitled to have a reexamination on his own petition or that of another interested person to the court of the county from which he was admitted. The treatment program must inform every child and the child's guardian of the right to petition for reexamination. The n…

(A) A child in need of treatment admitted involuntarily to a mental health service which removes him from home, must have his case reviewed by the court within twenty days of admission and every six months. If the review determines the child is no longer in need of mental health …

(A) No child who has been admitted involuntarily to a treatment facility or program may be moved from a less restrictive program to a more restrictive program without court approval. Court approval is not mandatory for moves from more restrictive to less restrictive programs. The…

(A) If a child is found to be a proper subject for voluntary admission, the director of a treatment program or facility shall admit for treatment an individual who is: (1) sixteen years of age or older and who applies for admission; (2) under sixteen years of age if his parent or…

(A) If a child committed to an inpatient facility or a residential treatment program is absent without proper authorization, the facility or program director immediately shall notify the appropriate state and local law enforcement officials and the parent or legal guardian of the…

It is unlawful for a person, without prior authorization from the child's attending physician or his designee, to take a child away or cause him to be taken away from the grounds of an inpatient facility or residential treatment program. A person violating the provisions of this …

No child may be discharged by the Office of Mental Health or private hospital without appropriate discharge planning. A member of the child's treatment team shall coordinate in advance with the child's parent or legal guardian as well as other service providers to ensure continui…

In order to provide community-based treatment as an alternative to hospitalization, the Office of Mental Health shall provide or cause to be provided a range of mental health programs for children in each mental health center recognized by the State. Based on available resources …

Agencies providing services to children or holding legal custody of children are accountable within their legislative mandate to participate in the planning and service provision to a child determined to be in need of treatment. Agencies shall exchange and share records of servic…

A parent or guardian of a child admitted to a treatment program or facility is entitled and expected to confer at reasonable intervals with the treating physician, psychologist, or other members of the treatment team concerning the child's condition, treatment, or diagnosis. The …

A child who is a patient of a treatment facility at all reasonable times may: (1) communicate and consult with the agency or individual having legal custody of him; (2) communicate, consult, and visit with legal counsel and private mental health service providers of his parent's …

(A) A child who is a patient of a treatment program has the right to: (1) receive special education and vocational training in addition to other forms of treatment from the State Department of Education as required by law; (2) participate in play, recreation, physical exercise, a…

No child may be subjected to mechanical or chemical restraints, seclusion, or another form of physical coercion or restraint unless the action is authorized by a physician as being required to prevent a child from taking actions which are dangerous to himself or to others or prev…

When a child sixteen years of age or older is admitted to an inpatient facility at the Office of Mental Health, the probate court of the county in which the child resides or where the child applied for admittance shall appoint a guardian ad litem. The guardian ad litem shall revi…

The director of a treatment program or facility immediately shall discharge to the parent, legal guardian, or agency a voluntarily admitted child who: (1) is no longer in need of that treatment program or facility; or (2) requests his own discharge or whose discharge is requested…

When admitted to the residential program or facility, thirty days after the date of admission, and every six months after, a voluntarily admitted child must be informed in writing of his right to release in language which is appropriate for his age. The child shall sign a stateme…

(A) A child may be admitted to an inpatient hospital for emergency admission upon: (1) written application under oath by an interested person stating: (a) belief that the child is in need of treatment and in danger of harming himself or others as a result of his need for treatmen…

If a child in need of emergency admission cannot be examined by a licensed physician pursuant to Section 44-24-60 because his whereabouts are unknown or for any other reason, the petitioner seeking commitment pursuant to Section 44-24-60 shall execute an affidavit stating that he…

The certificate provided for in Section 44-24-60(A)(2) requires a law enforcement officer, preferably in civilian clothes, to take the child into custody and transport him to the hospital designated by the certification. Upon request, a law enforcement officer shall transport the…

(A) Proceedings for judicial admission to a treatment program or facility begin by an interested person filing a written petition with the court of the county where the child is present or where the child is a resident. The petition must state the factual basis of the person's be…

The Interstate Compact on Mental Health as set out in Section 44-25-20 is enacted into law and entered into by this State with all other states legally joining therein.

The contracting states solemnly agree that: Article I. The party states find that the proper and expeditious treatment of the mentally ill and mentally deficient can be facilitated by cooperative action, to the benefit of the patients, their families and society as a whole. Furth…

Pursuant to the compact, the Director of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities shall be the compact administrator for the mentally ill and persons with intellectual disability, or those with a related disability, respectively, and, acting jointly with…

The compact administrator may enter into supplementary agreements with appropriate officials of other states pursuant to articles VII and XI of the compact. In the event that such supplementary agreements shall require or contemplate the use of any institution or facility of this…

The compact administrator shall consult with the immediate family of any proposed transferee and, in the case of a proposed transferee from an institution in this State to an institution in another party state, shall take no final action without approval of the probate court havi…

The compact administrator, subject to the approval of the State Fiscal Accountability Authority, may make or arrange for any payments necessary to discharge any financial obligations imposed upon this State by the compact or by any supplementary agreement entered into thereunder.