Bill Text: TX SB646 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Engrossed

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Relating to court-ordered outpatient mental health services.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)

Status: (Passed) 2013-06-14 - Effective on 9/1/13 [SB646 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-SB646-Engrossed.html

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By: Deuell S.B. No. 646

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to court-ordered outpatient mental health services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 574, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 574.0125 to read as follows:
Sec. 574.0125. IDENTIFICATION OF PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR
COURT-ORDERED OUTPATIENT MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES. Not later than
the third day before the date of a hearing that may result in the
judge ordering the patient to receive court-ordered outpatient
mental health services, the judge shall identify the person the
judge intends to designate to be responsible for those services
under Section 574.037.
SECTION 2. Section 574.037, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsections
(b-1), (b-2), (c-1), (c-2), (c-3), and (c-4) to read as follows:
(a) The court, in an order that directs a patient to
participate in outpatient mental health services, shall designate
the person identified under Section 574.0125 as [identify a person
who is] responsible for those services or may designate a different
person if necessary. The person designated [identified] must be
the facility administrator or an individual involved in providing
court-ordered outpatient services. A person may not be designated
as responsible for the ordered services without the person's
consent unless the person is the facility administrator of a
department facility or the facility administrator of a community
center that provides mental health services in the region in which
the committing court is located.
(b) The person responsible for the services shall submit to
the court [within two weeks after the court enters the order] a
general program of the treatment to be provided as required by this
subsection and Subsection (b-2). The program must be incorporated
into the court order. The program must include:
(1) services to provide care coordination; and
(2) any other treatment or services, including
medication and supported housing, that are available and considered
clinically necessary by a treating physician or the person
responsible for the services to assist the patient in functioning
safely in the community.
(b-1) If the patient is receiving inpatient mental health
services at the time the program is being prepared, the person
responsible for the services under this section shall seek input
from the patient's inpatient treatment providers in preparing the
program.
(b-2) The person responsible for the services shall submit
the program to the court before the hearing under Section 574.034 or
574.035 or before the court modifies an order under Section
574.061, as appropriate.
(c-1) A patient subject to court-ordered outpatient
services may petition the court for specific enforcement of the
court order.
(c-2) A court may, on its own motion, set a status
conference with the person responsible for the services, the
patient, and the patient's attorney.
(c-3) The court shall order the patient to participate in
the program but may not compel performance. If a court receives
information under Subsection (c)(1) that a patient is not complying
with the court's order, the court may:
(1) set a modification hearing under Section 574.062;
and
(2) issue an order for temporary detention if an
application is filed under Section 574.063.
(c-4) The failure of a patient to comply with the program
incorporated into a court order is not grounds for punishment for
contempt of court under Section 21.002, Government Code.
SECTION 3. Subsection (f), Section 574.061, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
(f) If the court modifies the order, the court shall
designate [identify] a person to be responsible for the outpatient
services as prescribed by Section 574.037.
SECTION 4. Subsection (b), Section 574.063, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) The application must state the applicant's opinion and
detail the reasons for the applicant's opinion that:
(1) the patient meets the criteria described by
Section 574.064(a-1) [574.065(a)]; and
(2) detention in an inpatient mental health facility
is necessary to evaluate the appropriate setting for continued
court-ordered services.
SECTION 5. Section 574.064, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsections (a-1) and (a-2) and amending
Subsections (b) and (e) to read as follows:
(a-1) A physician shall evaluate the patient as soon as
possible within 24 hours after the time detention begins to
determine whether the patient, due to mental illness, presents a
substantial risk of serious harm to the patient or others so that
the patient cannot be at liberty pending the probable cause hearing
under Subsection (b). The determination that the patient presents
a substantial risk of serious harm to the patient or others may be
demonstrated by:
(1) the patient's behavior; or
(2) evidence of severe emotional distress and
deterioration in the patient's mental condition to the extent that
the patient cannot live safely in the community.
(a-2) If the physician who conducted the evaluation
determines that the patient does not present a substantial risk of
serious harm to the patient or others, the facility shall:
(1) notify:
(A) the person designated under Section 574.037
as responsible for providing outpatient mental health services or
the facility administrator of the outpatient facility treating the
patient; and
(B) the court that entered the order directing
the patient to receive court-ordered outpatient mental health
services; and
(2) release the patient.
(b) A patient who is not released under Subsection (a-2) may
be detained under a temporary detention order for more than 72
hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, legal holidays, and the period
prescribed by Section 574.025(b) for an extreme emergency only if,
after a hearing held before the expiration of that period, the
court, a magistrate, or a designated associate judge finds that
there is probable cause to believe that:
(1) the patient, due to mental illness, presents a
substantial risk of serious harm to the patient or others, using the
criteria prescribed by Subsection (a-1), to the extent that the
patient cannot be at liberty pending the final hearing under
Section 574.062 [meets the criteria described by Section
574.065(a)]; and
(2) detention in an inpatient mental health facility
is necessary to evaluate the appropriate setting for continued
court-ordered services.
(e) A patient released from an inpatient mental health
facility under Subsection (a-2) or (d) continues to be subject to
the order for court-ordered outpatient services, if the order has
not expired.
SECTION 6. Subsection (a), Section 574.065, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The court may modify an order for outpatient services at
the modification hearing if the court determines that the patient
meets the applicable criteria for court-ordered inpatient mental
health services prescribed by Section 574.034(a) or 574.035(a).
SECTION 7. The heading to Subchapter G, Chapter 574, Health
and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER G. ADMINISTRATION OF MEDICATION TO PATIENT UNDER COURT
ORDER FOR [INPATIENT] MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
SECTION 8. Section 574.102, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 574.102. APPLICATION OF SUBCHAPTER. This subchapter
applies to the application of medication to a patient subject to a
court [an] order for [inpatient] mental health services under this
chapter or other law.
SECTION 9. Section 574.103, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to
read as follows:
(b) A person may not administer a psychoactive medication to
a patient under court-ordered inpatient mental health services who
refuses to take the medication voluntarily unless:
(1) the patient is having a medication-related
emergency;
(2) the patient is under an order issued under Section
574.106 authorizing the administration of the medication
regardless of the patient's refusal; or
(3) the patient is a ward who is 18 years of age or
older and the guardian of the person of the ward consents to the
administration of psychoactive medication regardless of the ward's
expressed preferences regarding treatment with psychoactive
medication.
(c) A person may not administer a psychoactive medication to
a patient under court-ordered outpatient mental health services who
refuses to take medication voluntarily unless:
(1) the person is having a medication-related
emergency; and
(2) the psychoactive medication does not include
long-acting injectable medications.
SECTION 10. Subsection (i), Section 574.034, and Subsection
(j), Section 574.035, Health and Safety Code, are repealed.
SECTION 11. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an application for court-ordered mental health services or
temporary detention filed on or after the effective date of this
Act. An application filed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect when the application was filed, and
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.