Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1538 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R4895 EAS-F
2	2	By: Lalani H.B. No. 1538
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the authority of a peace officer to apprehend a person
10	10	for emergency detention and of certain facilities and physicians to
11	11	temporarily detain a person with mental illness.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter A, Chapter 573, Health
14	14	and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
15	15	SUBCHAPTER A. APPREHENSION, [BY PEACE OFFICER OR] TRANSPORTATION,
16	16	OR DETENTION WITHOUT JUDGE'S OR MAGISTRATE'S ORDER [FOR EMERGENCY
17	17	DETENTION BY GUARDIAN]
18	18	SECTION 2. Section 573.001, Health and Safety Code, is
19	19	amended by adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:
20	20	(i) A peace officer may take into custody under this section
21	21	a person who has been admitted as a patient to a facility listed in
22	22	Section 573.006.
23	23	SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 573, Health and Safety
24	24	Code, is amended by adding Section 573.006 to read as follows:
25	25	Sec. 573.006. TEMPORARY DETENTION IN CERTAIN FACILITIES.
26	26	(a) In this section, "facility" means:
27	27	(1) an inpatient mental health facility other than a
28	28	community center, a facility operated by or under contract with a
29	29	community center, an entity the executive commissioner designates
30	30	to provide mental health services, a local mental health authority,
31	31	or a facility operated by or under contract with a local mental
32	32	health authority, unless the facility is licensed under Chapter
33	33	577;
34	34	(2) a hospital, or the emergency department of a
35	35	hospital, licensed under Chapter 241; and
36	36	(3) a freestanding emergency medical care facility
37	37	licensed under Chapter 254.
38	38	(b) The governing body of a facility may adopt and implement
39	39	a written policy authorizing a physician at the facility to
40	40	temporarily detain a person who voluntarily requested treatment
41	41	from the facility or who lacks the capacity to consent to treatment,
42	42	as provided by this section, if:
43	43	(1) the person expresses a desire to leave the
44	44	facility or attempts to leave the facility before the examination
45	45	or treatment is completed; and
46	46	(2) the physician:
47	47	(A) has reason to believe and does believe that:
48	48	(i) the person has a mental illness; and
49	49	(ii) because of that mental illness there
50	50	is a substantial risk of serious harm to the person or to others
51	51	unless the person is immediately restrained; and
52	52	(B) believes there is insufficient time to file
53	53	an application for emergency detention or for an order of
54	54	protective custody.
55	55	(c) A policy a facility adopts and implements under this
56	56	section may not authorize a physician at the facility to detain a
57	57	person who has been transported to the facility for emergency
58	58	detention under this chapter.
59	59	(d) A policy a facility adopts and implements under this
60	60	section must require:
61	61	(1) the facility staff or the physician who intends to
62	62	detain the person under the policy to notify the person of that
63	63	intention;
64	64	(2) a physician to document a decision to detain a
65	65	person under the policy and to place a notice of detention in the
66	66	person's medical record that contains the same information as
67	67	required in a peace officer's notification of detention under
68	68	Section 573.002; and
69	69	(3) the period of a person's detention under the policy
70	70	to be less than four hours following the time the person first
71	71	expressed a desire to leave or attempted to leave the facility, and
72	72	the physician to release the person not later than the end of the
73	73	four-hour period unless the facility staff or physician arranges
74	74	for a peace officer to take the person into custody under Section
75	75	573.001 or a judge or magistrate issues an order of protective
76	76	custody.
77	77	(e) Detention of a person under a policy a facility adopts
78	78	and implements under this section is not considered involuntary
79	79	psychiatric hospitalization for purposes of Section 411.172(e),
80	80	Government Code.
81	81	(f) A physician, facility staff, or facility that detains or
82	82	does not detain a person under a policy a facility adopts and
83	83	implements under this section and that acts in good faith and
84	84	without malice is not civilly or criminally liable for that action.
85	85	(g) A facility is not civilly or criminally liable for the
86	86	decision of the facility's governing body to adopt or not to adopt a
87	87	policy under this section.
88	88	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.