By: Huffman S.B. No. 1503
(In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2011; March 22, 2011, read
first time and referred to Committee on Criminal Justice;
May 12, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 12, 2011,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1503 By: Huffman
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to procedures regarding certain criminal defendants who
are or may be persons with mental illness or mental retardation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Article 46C.261, Code of
Criminal Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
(a) A criminal court that orders an acquitted person
committed to inpatient treatment or orders outpatient or
community-based treatment and supervision annually shall determine
whether to renew the order and has continuing jurisdiction over all
renewals for the purposes of this chapter.
SECTION 2. Section 551.042, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 551.042. OUTPATIENT CLINICS AND TRANSITIONAL
FACILITIES. (a) If funds are available, the department may
establish in locations the department considers necessary
outpatient clinics and transitional facilities to treat persons
with mental illness.
(b) As necessary to establish and operate the clinics and
transitional facilities, the department may:
(1) acquire facilities;
(2) hire personnel;
(3) adopt rules; and
(4) contract with persons, corporations, and local,
state, and federal agencies.
SECTION 3. Subsections (c) and (d), Section 572.004, Health
and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(c) The notified physician shall evaluate the patient to
determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe that the
patient might meet the criteria for court-ordered mental health
services or emergency detention. The notified physician shall
discharge the patient on completion of the evaluation [before the
end of the four-hour period] unless the physician finds [has]
reasonable cause to believe that the patient might meet the
criteria for court-ordered mental health services or emergency
detention.
(d) A physician who finds [has] reasonable cause to believe
that a patient might meet the criteria for court-ordered mental
health services or emergency detention shall examine the patient as
soon as possible within 24 hours after the time the request for
discharge is filed. The physician shall discharge the patient on
completion of the examination unless the physician determines that
the person meets the criteria for court-ordered mental health
services or emergency detention. If the physician makes a
determination that the patient meets the criteria for court-ordered
mental health services or emergency detention, the physician shall,
not later than 4 p.m. on the next succeeding business day after the
date on which the examination occurs, either discharge the patient
or file an application for court-ordered mental health services or
emergency detention and obtain a written order for further
detention. The physician shall notify the patient if the physician
intends to detain the patient under this subsection or intends to
file an application for court-ordered mental health services or
emergency detention. A decision to detain a patient under this
subsection and the reasons for the decision shall be made a part of
the patient's clinical record.
SECTION 4. Section 574.086, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read as follows:
(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a discharge under this
section is subject to judicial review and disapproval under Section
574.090 if:
(1) one of the criteria that formed the basis for the
decision to commit the patient was a finding that the patient was
likely to cause serious harm to others;
(2) regardless of the criteria that formed the basis
for the decision to commit, a treating physician now believes that
the patient poses a substantial risk of causing harm to others; or
(3) the patient has a violent criminal history.
(e) For purposes of this section, a patient has a violent
criminal history if the patient:
(1) has a prior conviction or has received community
supervision for an offense listed in Article 17.032(a), Code of
Criminal Procedure;
(2) is currently charged with an offense listed in
Article 17.032(a), Code of Criminal Procedure;
(3) has been charged with an offense listed in Article
17.032(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, in the five years preceding
the date of the patient's current commitment; or
(4) has ever been found not guilty by reason of
insanity of an offense listed in Article 17.032(a), Code of
Criminal Procedure.
SECTION 5. Subchapter F, Chapter 574, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 574.090 to read as follows:
Sec. 574.090. JUDICIAL REVIEW OF DISCHARGE. (a) A
facility administrator who determines that a patient described by
Section 574.086(d) does not meet the criteria for court-ordered
inpatient mental health services shall prepare a discharge
certificate as required by Section 574.087 and file it with the
court that entered the order committing the patient to
court-ordered inpatient mental health services.
(b) On the filing of a discharge certificate under
Subsection (a), the court shall notify the attorney representing
the state and the patient's last attorney of record and provide each
attorney a copy of the discharge certificate.
(c) On the request of the attorney representing the state,
the court must conduct a hearing to determine whether the patient no
longer meets the criteria for court-ordered inpatient mental health
services and should be discharged. The court may hold the hearing
on its own motion.
(d) The court may order further psychiatric or
psychological testing the court considers necessary for
determining whether the patient no longer meets the criteria for
court-ordered inpatient mental health services and should be
discharged.
(e) At the hearing conducted under this section, the court
shall determine whether the person meets any criteria for
court-ordered inpatient mental health services listed in Section
574.035(a). If the court finds by clear and convincing evidence
that the patient meets one of the criteria for court-ordered
inpatient mental health services, the court shall disapprove the
patient's release and enter a new order committing the patient for
court-ordered extended inpatient mental health services. If the
court does not find by clear and convincing evidence that the
patient meets one of the criteria for court-ordered inpatient
mental health services, the court shall approve the patient's
discharge.
SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act in amending
Subsection (a), Article 46C.261, Code of Criminal Procedure,
applies only to a defendant with respect to whom any proceeding
under Chapter 46C, Code of Criminal Procedure, is conducted on or
after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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