(a) A family or household member of the respondent, a community member, licensed healthcare professional, behavioral health professional, or a law enforcement officer, or agency may file a petition for an extreme risk protection order that sets forth detailed allegations based on personal knowledge that the respondent poses a significant danger of causing personal injury to himself or herself or others in the near future by having in his or her custody or control, or by purchasing, possessing, or receiving, a firearm or ammunition. If the petition is filed by a law enforcement officer or agency, the Department of Justice shall represent the officer or agency in any judicial proceeding upon request. If the petition is filed by a family or household member or community member, the petitioner, to the best of the petitioner’s ability, shall notify the law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction where the respondent resides of the petition and the hearing date with enough advance notice to allow for participation or attendance. Upon the filing of a petition, the court shall appoint an attorney to represent the respondent, and the court shall include the appointment in the notice of hearing provided to the respondent pursuant to § 1104. The respondent may replace the attorney with an attorney of the respondent’s own selection at any time at the respondent’s own expense. The court shall pay the attorney fees for an attorney appointed for the respondent.
(b) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, a licensed health-care professional or behavioral health professional authorized to file a petition for an extreme risk protection order, upon filing the petition for an extreme risk protection order, may disclose protected health information, of the respondent as necessary for the full investigation and disposition of the petition for an extreme risk protection order. When disclosing protected health information, the licensed health-care professional or behavioral health professional shall make reasonable efforts to limit protected health information to the minimum necessary to accomplish the filing of the request. Upon receipt of a petition by a licensed health-care professional or behavioral health professional and for good cause shown, the court may issue orders to obtain any records or documents relating to diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment, and clinical records, of the respondent as necessary for the full investigation and disposition of the petition for an extreme risk protection order. When protected health information is disclosed or when the court receives any records or documents related to diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment or clinical records, the court shall order that the parties are prohibited from using or disclosing the protected health information for any purpose other than the proceedings for a petition for an extreme risk protection order and shall order the return to the covered entity or destroy the protected health information, including all copies made, at the end of the litigation or proceeding. The court shall seal all records and other health information received that contain protected health information. The decision of a licensed health-care professional or behavioral health professional to disclose or not to disclose records or documents relating to the diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment, and clinical records of a respondent, when made reasonably and in good faith, may not be the basis for any civil, administrative, or criminal liability with respect to the licensed health-care professional or behavioral health professional.
(c) An action under this subchapter must be filed in the division where the petitioner’s law enforcement office is located or the division where the respondent resides.
(d) The petition must:(1) Allege that the respondent poses a significant danger of causing personal injury to himself or herself or others by having a firearm or any ammunition in his or her custody or control or by purchasing, possessing, or receiving a firearm or any ammunition, and must be accompanied by an affidavit made under oath stating the specific statements, actions, or facts that give rise to a reasonable fear of significant dangerous acts by the respondent;(2) Identify the quantities, types, and locations of all firearms and ammunition the petitioner believes to be in the respondent’s current ownership, possession, custody, or control;(3) Identify whether the respondent is required to possess, carry, or use a firearm as a condition of the respondent’s current employment;(4) Identify whether there is a known existing domestic abuse protection order or emergency protection order governing the petitioner or respondent;(5) Identify whether there is a pending lawsuit, complaint, petition, or other action between the parties to the petition; and(6) If the petitioner is not a law enforcement agency, identify whether the petitioner informed a local law enforcement agency regarding the respondent.
(1) Allege that the respondent poses a significant danger of causing personal injury to himself or herself or others by having a firearm or any ammunition in his or her custody or control or by purchasing, possessing, or receiving a firearm or any ammunition, and must be accompanied by an affidavit made under oath stating the specific statements, actions, or facts that give rise to a reasonable fear of significant dangerous acts by the respondent;
(2) Identify the quantities, types, and locations of all firearms and ammunition the petitioner believes to be in the respondent’s current ownership, possession, custody, or control;
(3) Identify whether the respondent is required to possess, carry, or use a firearm as a condition of the respondent’s current employment;
(4) Identify whether there is a known existing domestic abuse protection order or emergency protection order governing the petitioner or respondent;
(5) Identify whether there is a pending lawsuit, complaint, petition, or other action between the parties to the petition; and
(6) If the petitioner is not a law enforcement agency, identify whether the petitioner informed a local law enforcement agency regarding the respondent.
(e) The petitioner shall make a good faith effort to provide notice to a family or household member of the respondent and to any known third party who may be at risk of violence. The notice must state that the petitioner intends to petition the court for an extreme risk protection order or has already done so and must include referrals to appropriate resources, including mental health, threat of violence or harm due to mental health episodes, domestic violence, and counseling resources. The petitioner shall attest in the petition to having provided such notice or shall attest to the steps that will be taken to provide the notice.
(f) The petitioner shall list the address of record on the petition as being where the appropriate law enforcement agency is located.
(g) A court or a public agency may not charge fees for filing or for service of process to a petitioner seeking relief under this subchapter and shall provide the necessary number of certified copies, forms, and instructional brochures free of charge.
(h) A person is not required to post a bond to obtain relief in any proceeding under this subchapter.
(i) The Superior Court of the Virgin Islands has jurisdiction over proceedings under this subchapter.