HB 1263 – AS INTRODUCED
2006 SESSION
06-2080
01/10
HOUSE BILL 1263
AN ACT requiring certain notification before a person with a mental illness may be discharged from a state mental health services facility.
SPONSORS: Rep. Cady, Rock 1; Rep. Bicknell, Rock 1; Rep. Dumaine, Rock 3; Rep. Souza, Hills 11
COMMITTEE: Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs
This bill requires that the administrator of a facility give notice to local law enforcement and next of kin that a person who was involuntarily admitted on a nonemergency basis is being discharged from such facility.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
06-2080
01/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Six
AN ACT requiring certain notification before a person with a mental illness may be discharged from a state mental health services facility.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Emergency Admission to Mental Health Services System; Discharge. Amend RSA 135-C:33, I to read as follows:
I. At any time during the period of involuntary emergency admission the administrator of the receiving facility or designee in such facility shall discharge the person admitted if the administrator decides that the person no longer meets the criteria established by RSA 135-C:27. If a discharge occurs, under this section or pursuant to a finding of no probable cause by the court, the receiving facility shall, with the consent of the person admitted, return such person to the place where the person resided at the time the petition and physician's certificate were completed and signed. Unless the discharge is pursuant to a finding of no probable cause by the court, the receiving facility shall give notice of the discharge to the community mental health program in the region from which the person was admitted and to the community mental health program in the region to which the person is being discharged. The person discharged or the person's guardian shall be given written notice of such action taken by the receiving facility. The receiving facility shall also give written notice of the discharge to the appropriate local law enforcement authorities and, if possible, the person’s next of kin.
2 New Paragraph; Nonemergency Involuntary Admissions to Mental Health Services System; Discharge. Amend RSA 135-C:49 by inserting after paragraph III the following new paragraph:
IV. The administrator shall, in writing, notify the appropriate local law enforcement authorities and the person’s next of kin whenever a person is conditionally discharged or absolutely discharged.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.