S.B. No. 1238
AN ACT
relating to the admission, examination, and discharge of a person
for mental health services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 2, Family Code, is amended by
adding Chapter 35A to read as follows:
CHAPTER 35A. TEMPORARY AUTHORIZATION FOR INPATIENT MENTAL HEALTH
SERVICES FOR MINOR CHILD
Sec. 35A.001. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies to a
person whose relationship to a child would make the person eligible
to consent to treatment under Section 32.001(a)(1), (2), or (3),
and who has had actual care, custody, and control of the child for
the six months preceding the filing of a petition under this
chapter.
Sec. 35A.002. TEMPORARY AUTHORIZATION. A person described
by Section 35A.001 may seek a court order for temporary
authorization to consent to voluntary inpatient mental health
services for a child by filing a petition in the district court in
the county in which the person resides.
Sec. 35A.003. PETITION FOR TEMPORARY AUTHORIZATION. A
petition for temporary authorization to consent to voluntary
inpatient mental health services for a child must:
(1) be styled "ex parte" and be in the name of the
child;
(2) be verified by the petitioner;
(3) state:
(A) the name, date of birth, and current physical
address of the child;
(B) the name, date of birth, and current physical
address of the petitioner; and
(C) the name and, if known, the current physical
and mailing addresses of the child's parents, conservators, or
guardians;
(4) describe the status and location of any court
proceeding in this or another state with respect to the child;
(5) describe the petitioner's relationship to the
child;
(6) provide the dates during the preceding six months
that the child has resided with the petitioner;
(7) contain a certificate of medical examination for
mental illness prepared by a physician who has examined the child
not earlier than the third day before the date the petition is filed
and be accompanied by a sworn statement containing the physician's
opinion, and the detailed reasons for that opinion, that the child
is a person:
(A) with mental illness or who demonstrates
symptoms of a serious emotional disorder; and
(B) who presents a risk of serious harm to self or
others if not immediately restrained or hospitalized; and
(8) state any reason that the petitioner is unable to
obtain signed, written documentation from a parent, conservator, or
guardian of the child.
Sec. 35A.004. NOTICE; HEARING. (a) On receipt of the
petition, the court shall set a hearing.
(b) A copy of the petition and notice of the hearing shall be
delivered to the parent, conservator, or guardian of the child by
personal service or by certified mail, return receipt requested, at
the last known address of the parent, conservator, or guardian.
Sec. 35A.005. ORDER FOR TEMPORARY AUTHORIZATION. (a) At
the hearing on the petition, the court may hear evidence relating to
the child's need for inpatient mental health services by the
petitioner, any other matter raised in the petition, and any
objection or other testimony of the child's parent, conservator, or
guardian.
(b) The court shall dismiss the petition for temporary
authorization if an objection is made by the child's parent,
conservator, or guardian.
(c) The court shall grant the petition for temporary
authorization only if the court finds:
(1) by a preponderance of the evidence that the child
does not have available a parent, conservator, guardian, or other
legal representative to give consent under Section 572.001, Health
and Safety Code, for voluntary inpatient mental health services;
and
(2) by clear and convincing evidence that the child is
a person:
(A) with mental illness or who demonstrates
symptoms of a serious emotional disorder; and
(B) who presents a risk of serious harm to self or
others if not immediately restrained or hospitalized.
(d) Subject to Subsection (e), the order granting temporary
authorization under this chapter expires on the earliest of:
(1) the date the petitioner requests that the child be
discharged from the inpatient mental health facility;
(2) the date a physician determines that the criteria
listed in Subsection (c)(2) no longer apply to the child; or
(3) subject to Subsection (e), the 10th day after the
date the order for temporary authorization is issued under this
section.
(e) The order granting temporary authorization continues in
effect until the earlier occurrence of an event described by
Subsection (d)(1) or (2) if the petitioner obtains an order for
temporary managing conservatorship before the order expires as
provided by Subsection (d)(3).
(f) A copy of an order granting temporary authorization
must:
(1) be filed under the cause number in any court that
has rendered a conservatorship or guardian order regarding the
child; and
(2) be sent to the last known address of the child's
parent, conservator, or guardian.
SECTION 2. Section 572.001, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a), (a-1), and (c-1) and adding
Subsection (a-2) to read as follows:
(a) A person 16 years of age or older may request admission
to an inpatient mental health facility or for outpatient mental
health services by filing a request with the administrator of the
facility where admission or outpatient treatment is requested.
Subject to Subsection (c-1), the [The] parent, managing
conservator, or guardian of a person younger than 18 years of age
may request the admission of the person to an inpatient mental
health facility or for outpatient mental health services by filing
a request with the administrator of the facility where admission or
outpatient treatment is requested.
(a-1) A person eligible to consent to treatment for the
person under Section 32.001(a)(1), (2), or (3), Family Code, may
request temporary authorization for the admission of the person to
an inpatient mental health facility by petitioning under Chapter
35A, Family Code, in the district court in the county in which the
person resides for an order for temporary authorization to consent
to voluntary mental health services under this section. The
petitioner for temporary authorization may be represented by the
county attorney or district attorney.
(a-2) Except as provided by Subsection (c-1) [(c)], an
inpatient mental health facility may admit or provide services to a
person 16 years of age or older and younger than 18 years of age if
the person's parent, managing conservator, or guardian consents to
the admission or services, even if the person does not consent to
the admission or services.
(c-1) A person younger than 18 years of age may not be
involuntarily committed unless provided by this chapter, Chapter
55, Family Code, [other state law,] or department rule.
SECTION 3. Section 572.0025, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (f) and (g) and adding Subsections
(f-1), (f-2), and (f-3) to read as follows:
(f) A prospective voluntary patient may not be formally
accepted for treatment in a facility unless:
(1) the facility has a physician's order admitting the
prospective patient, which order may be issued orally,
electronically, or in writing, signed by the physician, provided
that, in the case of an oral order or an electronically transmitted
unsigned order, a signed original is presented to the mental health
facility within 24 hours of the initial order; the order must be
from:
(A) an admitting physician who has, either in
person or through the use of audiovisual or other
telecommunications technology, conducted a physical and
psychiatric examination within:
(i) 72 hours before [of the] admission; or
(ii) 24 hours after admission; or
(B) an admitting physician who has consulted with
a physician who has, either in person or through the use of
audiovisual or other telecommunications technology, conducted an
examination within:
(i) 72 hours before [of the] admission; or
(ii) 24 hours after admission; and
(2) the facility administrator or a person designated
by the administrator has agreed to accept the prospective patient
and has signed a statement to that effect.
(f-1) A person who is admitted to a facility before the
performance of the physical and psychiatric examination required by
Subsection (f) must be discharged by the physician immediately if
the physician conducting the physical and psychiatric examination
determines the person does not meet the clinical standards to
receive inpatient mental health services.
(f-2) A facility that discharges a patient under the
circumstances described by Subsection (f-1) may not bill the
patient or the patient's third-party payor for the temporary
admission of the patient to the inpatient mental health facility.
(f-3) Section 572.001(c-2) applies to the admission of a
minor in the managing conservatorship of the Department of Family
and Protective Services to an inpatient mental health facility.
(g) An assessment conducted as required by rules adopted
under this section does not satisfy a statutory or regulatory
requirement for a personal evaluation of a patient or a prospective
patient by a physician [before admission].
SECTION 4. Section 573.001(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) A peace officer, without a warrant, may take a person
into custody, regardless of the age of the person, if the officer:
(1) has reason to believe and does believe that:
(A) the person is a person with mental illness;
and
(B) because of that mental illness there is a
substantial risk of serious harm to the person or to others unless
the person is immediately restrained; and
(2) believes that there is not sufficient time to
obtain a warrant before taking the person into custody.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1238 passed the Senate on
April 16, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 23, 2019, by the
following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1238 passed the House, with
amendments, on May 21, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 107,
Nays 40, one present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor