SB 120 – AS INTRODUCED
2009 SESSION
01/04
SENATE BILL 120
AN ACT relative to nonemergency involuntary admissions and permitted condition of conditional discharge from a mental health facility.
This bill changes the length of time for which a nonemergency involuntary petition is valid.
This bill also clarifies the condition of conditional discharge.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
09-0957
01/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nine
AN ACT relative to nonemergency involuntary admissions and permitted condition of conditional discharge from a mental health facility.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Nonemergency Admissions; Limitation of Order. Amend RSA 135-C:46 to read as follows:
135-C:46 Limitation of Order. No order made pursuant to RSA 135-C:45 for involuntary admission or any other type of treatment shall be valid for longer than [5 years] 90 days; provided that when the person sought to be admitted has been the subject of an order of nonemergency involuntary admission which has not expired or has expired within 21 days of the new petition, the order may be valid for up to one year. For the order to be renewed, another judicial hearing shall be held pursuant to RSA 135-C:34-54.
2 Nonemergency Admissions; Conditions of Conditional Discharge. Amend RSA 135-C:50 to read as follows:
135-C:50 Conditions of Conditional Discharge.
I. The administrator of a receiving facility may grant a conditional discharge under this chapter to any person who consents, by an informed decision, to participate in continuing treatment on an out-patient basis, who agrees to be subject to any rules adopted by the commissioner relative to conditional discharge, and who understands the conditions of his or her discharge. The conditions of such discharge shall be the least restrictive necessary to prevent a recurrence of the circumstances which led to the person’s dangerous condition. The administrator of the facility or his or her designee shall prepare, deliver a copy of, and read to the person being conditionally discharged a written statement which shall be sufficiently specific to provide notice to the person being conditionally discharged of the conditions of conditional discharge and a warning that violation of those conditions may result in revocation of the conditional discharge pursuant to RSA 135-C:51.
II. A conditional discharge shall not exceed the period of time remaining on the order of involuntary admission and shall become absolute at the end of its term.
III. During the term of conditional discharge, the person conditionally discharged shall be provided with continuing treatment on an out-patient basis by a community mental health program approved by the commissioner; provided that the discharge shall not delegate authority to change the terms of the discharge to any community mental health center or other entity.
3 Nonemergency Admissions; Revocation of Conditional Discharge. Amend RSA 135-C:51, I(a) to read as follows:
(a) The person has violated a condition of the discharge such that revocation of the conditional discharge is necessary to prevent a recurrence of the circumstances which led to the person’s dangerous condition; or
4 Nonemergency Admissions; Revocation of Conditional Discharge. Amend RSA 135-C:51, IV to read as follows:
IV. A law enforcement officer shall take custody of the person whose conditional discharge was temporarily revoked under paragraph III and deliver him or her, together with a copy of the notice and the reasons for the temporary revocation, to the receiving facility identified by the psychiatrist, where he or she shall be personally examined by the administrator of the facility or designee and the reasons for temporary revocation of the discharge shall be reviewed. Following such examination and review, if the administrator of the facility or designee finds that the person conditionally discharged has violated a condition of the discharge such that revocation of the conditional discharge is necessary to prevent a recurrence of the circumstance which led to the person’s dangerous condition or is in such a mental condition as a result of mental illness as to create a potentially serious likelihood of danger to himself or herself or to others, he or she may revoke absolutely the conditional discharge. The administrator of the facility, or designee, shall prepare, offer to and read to the person a written notice of the reasons for the absolute revocation. The person whose conditional discharge has been absolutely revoked shall be subject to the terms and conditions of the order of involuntary admission made pursuant to RSA 135-C:34-54 from which conditional discharge was granted as if the conditional discharge had not been granted.
5 Effective Date.
I. Section 1 of this act shall take effect upon its passage.
II. The remainder of this act shall take effect 30 days after its passage.