ENROLLED
ACT No. 382
2022 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 335
BY REPRESENTATIVE DUPLESSIS
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 28:2(13) and 69(B)(2), to enact R.S. 28:2(40), and to repeal R.S.
3 28:68(C), relative to behavioral health; to provide for a definition of the term
4 "psychiatric deterioration"; to amend the definition of "gravely disabled"; to provide
5 for certain regulations regarding a Physician's Report to Court or an affidavit from
6 certain mental health professionals; and to provide for related matters.
7 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
8 Section 1. R.S. 28:2(13) and 69(B)(2) are hereby amended and reenacted and R.S.
9 28:2(40) is hereby enacted to read as follows:
10 §2. Definitions
11 Whenever used in this Title, the masculine shall include the feminine, the
12 singular shall include the plural, and the following definitions shall apply:
13 * * *
14 (13) "Gravely disabled" means the condition of a person who is unable to
15 provide for his own basic physical needs, such as essential food, clothing, medical
16 care, and or shelter, as a result of serious mental illness or a substance-related or
17 addictive disorder and is unable to survive safely in freedom or protect himself from
18 serious physical harm or significant psychiatric deterioration. The term also includes
19 incapacitation by alcohol, which means the condition of a person who, as a result of
20 the use of alcohol, is unconscious or whose judgment is otherwise so impaired that
21 he is incapable of realizing and making a rational decision with respect to his need
22 for treatment.
23 * * *
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions. HB NO. 335 ENROLLED
1 (40) "Psychiatric deterioration" means a decline in mental functioning, which
2 diminishes the person's capacity to reason or exercise judgment.
3 * * *
4 §69. Procedure
5 * * *
6 B.
7 * * *
8 (2) If the court determines that probable cause exists, the court shall appoint
9 a physician, psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, or psychologist to examine
10 the respondent and to provide a written Physician's Report to Court and testify at the
11 hearing. The Physician's Report to Court shall be completed on the form provided
12 by the office of behavioral health of the Louisiana Department of Health and
13 provided to the court, the respondent's counsel, and the petitioner's counsel at least
14 three days before the hearing. Nothing in this Paragraph shall prevent the court from
15 appointing a willing and available physician, psychiatric mental health nurse
16 practitioner, or psychologist who has been put forth by the petitioner or from
17 accepting a Physician's Report to Court that has been completed pursuant to an
18 examination of the respondent conducted within ten days prior to the filing of the
19 petition.
20 * * *
21 Section 2. R.S. 28:68(C) is hereby repealed in its entirety.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.