BILL NUMBER: AB 2531AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 30, 2012 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Allen FEBRUARY 24, 2012 An act to add Section 7295 to the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to mental health. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2531, as amended, Allen. State hospitals: prohibited items. Existing law provides for state mental hospitals for the treatment of mentally disordered persons. Existing law places these hospitals under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Mental Health, and authorizes the department to adopt uniform rules and regulations regarding the conduct and management of these facilities, including prohibiting patients from possessing certain items. Existing law requires the hospital director to be responsible for the overall management of the hospital, and authorizes the hospital director to establish rules and regulations, as specified, concerning the care and treatment of patients, research, clinical training, and for the government of the hospital buildings and grounds. This bill would authorize a state hospital under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Mental Health to develop a list of items that are deemed contraband and prohibited on hospital grounds. This bill would require the hospital to form a contraband committee, as prescribed, to develop the list of contraband items, and would require the list to be subject to review and approval by the director, or his or her designee, and updated no less often than every 6 months. This bill would require the hospital to post the list on its Internet Web site. This bill would authorize the hospital and the department to implement, interpret, and make specific these provisions without taking regulatory action. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 7295 is added to the Welfare and Institutions Code, to read: 7295. (a) To ensure its safety and security, a state hospital that is under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Mental Health, as listed in Section 4100, may develop a list of items that are deemed contraband and prohibited on hospital grounds, and control and eliminate contraband on hospital grounds. (b) The hospital shall form a contraband committee, comprised of hospital management and employees designated by the hospital's director, to develop the list of contraband items. The committee shall develop the list with the participation of patient representatives, or the patient government of the hospital, if one is available, and the Office of Patients' Rights. (c) The list of contraband items is subject to review and approval by the Director of Mental Health or his or her designee. (d) The list of contraband items shall be updated and subject to review and approval by the director of the department, or his or her designee, no less often than every six months. (e) The list of contraband items shall be posted prominently in every unit of the hospital and throughout the hospital, and provided to a patient upon request. (f) The list of contraband items shall be posted on the hospital's Internet Web site.(f)(g) Notwithstanding Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the hospital and the department may implement, interpret, or make specific this section without taking regulatory action.