By: Jetton H.B. No. 2506
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to procedures applicable to the emergency detention of a
person with mental illness at a mental health facility, including
the detention, transportation, and transfer of the person and to
certain best practices for courts with jurisdiction over emergency
mental health matters.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 571.003(9) and 571.001(12), Health and
Safety Code, are amended as follows:
Sec. 571.003. DEFINITIONS. In this subtitle:
(9) "Inpatient mental health facility" means a mental
health facility that can provide 24-hour residential and
psychiatric services and that is:
(A) a facility operated by the department;
(B) a private mental hospital licensed by the department;
(C) a community center, facility operated by or under
contract with a community center or other entity the department
designates to provide mental health services;
(D) a local mental health authority or a facility operated
by or under contract with a local mental health authority;
(E) an identifiable part a mental health or psychiatric unit
of a general hospital in which diagnosis, treatment, that is
licensed by the department to diagnose, treat, and care for persons
with mental illness is provided and that is licensed by the
department; or; or
(F) a hospital operated by a federal agency.
(12) "Mental health facility" means:
(A) an inpatient or outpatient mental health facility
operated by the department, a federal agency, a political
subdivision, or any person;
(B) a community center or a facility operated by a community
center;
(C) that identifiable part mental health or psychiatric
unit of a general hospital in which diagnosis, treatment, that is
licensed by the department to diagnose, treat, and care for persons
with mental illness is provided; or
(D) with respect to a reciprocal agreement entered into
under Section 571.0081, any hospital or facility designated as a
place of commitment by the department, a local mental health
authority, and the contracting state or local authority.
SECTION 12. Section 573.001, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (d-1) to
read as follows:
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (d-1), a [A] peace
officer who takes a person into custody under Subsection (a) shall
immediately[:
[(1)] transport the apprehended person to[:
[(A)] the nearest appropriate inpatient mental
health facility located within 100 miles from where the person was
apprehended [; or
[(B) a mental health facility deemed suitable by
the local mental health authority, if an appropriate inpatient
mental health facility is not available; or
[(2) transfer the apprehended person to emergency
medical services personnel of an emergency medical services
provider in accordance with a memorandum of understanding executed
under Section 573.005 for transport to a facility described by
Subdivision (1)(A) or (B)].
(d-1) Subsection (d) does not apply to a peace officer who
takes into custody under Subsection (a) a person who needs to be
stabilized stabilization of a physical emergency medical stabilization of a physical emergency medical
condition.
SECTION 23. Section 573.002, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) If a person who has been detained under Section 573.001
and transported to a facility under this section subsequently is
transported to a mental health facility as authorized by Section
573.022(d), a copy of the notification of detention form filed
under Subsection (a) must accompany the detained person to the
mental health facility.
SECTION 4. Section 573.012, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding subsection (i) to read as follows:
(i) Unless a person whom the warrant is sought has
continually been detained at a mental health facility, a prior
emergency detention under this Chapter does not prohibit a judge or
magistrate from issuing a warrant pursuant to this section.
SECTION 35. Subchapter B, Chapter 573, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 573.013 to read as follows:
Sec. 573.013. JUDICIAL BEST PRACTICES AND PROCEDURES. The
Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System shall
develop and provide to each court in the state with jurisdiction to
hear emergency mental health matters under this chapter best
practices and procedures for ensuring that a judge or magistrate is
available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to respond to
applications for emergency detention under Section 573.012(h).
SECTION 46. Sections 573.021(a), (b), and (d), Health and
Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A mental health facility shall temporarily accept a
person for whom an application for detention is filed or for whom a
peace officer or emergency medical services personnel of an
emergency medical services provider transporting the person in
accordance with a memorandum of understanding executed under
Section 573.005 files a notification of detention completed by the
peace officer under Section 573.002(a).
(b) A person accepted for a preliminary examination may be
detained in custody for not longer than 48 hours after the time the
person is presented to the mental health facility unless a written
order for protective custody is obtained. The 48-hour period
allowed by this section includes any time the patient spends
waiting in the mental health facility for medical care before the
person receives the preliminary examination. If the 48-hour period
ends on a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or before 4 p.m. on the
first succeeding business day, the person may be detained until 4
p.m. on the first succeeding business day. If the 48-hour period
ends at a different time, the person may be detained only until 4
p.m. on the day the 48-hour period ends. If extremely hazardous
weather conditions exist or a disaster occurs, the presiding judge
or magistrate may, by written order made each day, extend by an
additional 24 hours the period during which the person may be
detained. The written order must declare that an emergency exists
because of the weather or the occurrence of a disaster.
(d) A mental health facility must comply with this section
only to the extent that the commissioner determines that a mental
health facility has sufficient resources to perform the necessary
services under this section.
SECTION 57. Section 573.022, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) A local mental health authority that determines a person
detained under Section 573.002 should be transported to an
appropriate mental health facility before the expiration of the
period for emergency detention described by Section 573.021(b) may
submit a request for a peace officer to provide transportation. On
a peace officer's receipt of notice of the request from the
officer's supervisor, the peace officer immediately shall
transport the detained person to the appropriate mental health
facility. A copy of the notification of emergency detention for the
detained person filed under Section 573.002(a) must accompany the
detained person to the receiving facility. The receiving facility
may not require any form other than the copy of the peace officer's
notification of detention as a predicate to accepting a person for
emergency detention.
SECTION 68. The changes in law made by this Act apply to an
emergency detention under Chapter 573, Health and Safety Code, that
begins on or after the effective date of this Act. An emergency
detention under Chapter 573, Health and Safety Code, that begins
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it
existed immediately before that date, and that law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 79. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the Office of Court Administration of the Texas
Judicial System shall develop the best practices and procedures as
required by Section 573.013, Health and Safety Code, as added by
this Act.
SECTION 810. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.