By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 32
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the detention and transportation of a person with a
mental illness.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsections (d), (e), and (f), Section 573.001,
Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(d) A peace officer who takes a person into custody under
Subsection (a) shall immediately transport the apprehended person
to:
(1) the nearest appropriate inpatient mental health
facility; [or]
(2) a mental health facility deemed suitable by the
local mental health authority, if an appropriate inpatient mental
health facility is not available; or
(3) a medical facility or other facility that the
local mental health authority deems suitable, if a facility
described in Subdivision (1) or (2) is not available.
(e) A jail or similar detention facility used to detain
persons charged with or convicted of a crime is not a facility [may
not be deemed] suitable for detention of a person taken into custody
under this section unless another facility described by Subsection
(d)(1) or (2) is not available and the nearest facility described by
Subsection (d)(3) is located more than 75 miles from the location
where the peace officer has custody of the person. A person may be
detained in a jail or similar detention facility under this
subsection for not longer than 12 hours. The sheriff or other
officeholder responsible for the facility shall document:
(1) the time the person's detention begins;
(2) the duration of the detention;
(3) the reason for the detention; and
(4) the time a representative of the local mental
health authority arrives at the facility [except in an extreme
emergency].
(f) The sheriff or officeholder responsible for [A person
detained in] a jail or a similar detention [nonmedical] facility
shall ensure that a person detained in the jail or similar detention
facility is [be] kept separate from any person who is charged with
or convicted of a crime.
SECTION 2. Section 574.023, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) A person taken into custody under this section may be
detained only in the manner provided by Section 574.027.
SECTION 3. Section 574.027, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (c) and (d) and adding Subsection
(c-1) to read as follows:
(c) A person under a protective custody order may not be
detained in a jail or nonmedical facility used to detain persons who
are charged with or convicted of a crime unless another facility
described by Subsection (a) is not available and the nearest
medical facility or other facility deemed suitable by the local
mental health authority is located more than 75 miles from the
location where the peace officer has custody of the person. A
person may be detained in a jail or nonmedical facility under this
subsection for not longer than 12 hours. The sheriff or other
officeholder responsible for the facility shall document:
(1) the time the person's detention begins;
(2) the duration of the detention;
(3) the reason for the detention; and
(4) the time a representative of the local mental
health authority arrives at the facility [except because of and
during an extreme emergency and in no case for longer than 72 hours,
excluding Saturdays, Sundays, legal holidays, and the period
prescribed by Section 574.025(b) for an extreme emergency. The
person must be isolated from any person who is charged with or
convicted of a crime].
(c-1) The sheriff or officeholder responsible for a jail or
a nonmedical facility described by Subsection (c) shall ensure that
a person detained in the jail or facility under Subsection (c) is
kept separate from any person who is charged with or convicted of a
crime.
(d) The county health authority shall ensure that proper
care and medical attention are made available to a person who is
detained in a jail or nonmedical facility under Subsection (c).
SECTION 4. Section 574.045, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (l) to read as follows:
(l) A patient restrained under Subsection (g) may be
restrained only during the apprehension, detention, or
transportation of the patient. The method of restraint must permit
the patient to sit in an upright position without undue difficulty.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.