Bill Text: IA HF91 | 2015-2016 | 86th General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to the appointment of mental health advocates. (See Cmte. Bill HF 468)

Sponsorship: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-11 - Withdrawn. H.J. 541. [HF91 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2015-HF91-Introduced.html

---

House File 91 - Introduced




                                 HOUSE FILE       
                                 BY  HEDDENS, HEATON, and
                                     PRICHARD

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to the appointment of mental health advocates.
  2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
    TLSB 1600YH (3) 86
    rh/rj

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 229.19, subsection 1, paragraphs a and b,
  1  2 Code 2015, are amended to read as follows:
  1  3    a.  In each county, with a population of three hundred
  1  4 thousand or more inhabitants the board of supervisors shall
  1  5 appoint an individual who has demonstrated by prior activities
  1  6 an informed concern for the welfare and rehabilitation of
  1  7 persons with mental illness, and who is not an officer or
  1  8 employee of the department of human services nor of any agency
  1  9 or facility providing care or treatment to persons with mental
  1 10 illness, to act as an advocate representing the interests of
  1 11 patients involuntarily hospitalized by the court, in any matter
  1 12 relating to the patients' hospitalization or treatment under
  1 13 section 229.14 or 229.15. In each county with a population of
  1 14 under three hundred thousand inhabitants, the chief judge of
  1 15 the judicial district encompassing the county shall appoint the
  1 16 advocate.
  1 17    b.  The court or, if the advocate is appointed by the county
  1 18 board of supervisors, the board shall assign the advocate
  1 19 appointed from a patient's county of residence to represent
  1 20 the interests of the patient. If a patient has no county of
  1 21 residence or the patient is a state case, the court or, if the
  1 22 advocate is appointed by the county board of supervisors, the
  1 23 board shall assign the advocate appointed from the county where
  1 24 the hospital or facility is located to represent the interests
  1 25 of the patient.
  1 26    Sec. 2.  Section 229.19, subsection 3, Code 2015, is amended
  1 27 to read as follows:
  1 28    3.  The court or, if the advocate is appointed by the
  1 29 county board of supervisors, the board shall prescribe
  1 30 reasonable compensation for the services of the advocate. The
  1 31 compensation shall be based upon the reports filed by the
  1 32 advocate with the court the duties performed by the advocate
  1 33 and in accordance with the personnel policies set forth by
  1 34 the board for county employees. The advocate's compensation
  1 35 shall be paid by the county in which the court is located,
  2  1 either on order of the court or, if the advocate is appointed
  2  2 by the county board of supervisors, on the direction of the
  2  3 board. If the advocate is appointed by the court, the advocate
  2  4 is an employee of the state for purposes of chapter 669. If
  2  5 the advocate is appointed by the county board of supervisors,
  2  6 the The advocate is an employee of the county for purposes
  2  7 of chapter 670. If the patient or the person who is legally
  2  8 liable for the patient's support is not indigent, the board
  2  9 shall recover the costs of compensating the advocate from that
  2 10 person. If that person has an income level as determined
  2 11 pursuant to section 815.9 greater than one hundred percent
  2 12 but not more than one hundred fifty percent of the poverty
  2 13 guidelines, at least one hundred dollars of the advocate's
  2 14 compensation shall be recovered in the manner prescribed by
  2 15 the county board of supervisors. If that person has an income
  2 16 level as determined pursuant to section 815.9 greater than
  2 17 one hundred fifty percent of the poverty guidelines, at least
  2 18 two hundred dollars of the advocate's compensation shall be
  2 19 recovered in substantially the same manner prescribed by the
  2 20 county board of supervisors as provided in section 815.9.
  2 21                           EXPLANATION
  2 22 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  2 23 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  2 24    This bill relates to the appointment of mental health
  2 25 advocates.
  2 26    Under current law, the appointment of a mental health
  2 27 advocate to represent the interests of a person involuntarily
  2 28 hospitalized under Code chapter 229 is made by either the
  2 29 county board of supervisors in a patient's county of residence
  2 30 if the county has a population of 300,000 or more, or by the
  2 31 chief judge of the judicial district if the patient's county
  2 32 of residence has a population under 300,000.  A mental health
  2 33 advocate is paid by either the state or the appropriate county.
  2 34    The bill amends this current law to eliminate court
  2 35 appointments of mental health advocates and specifies that
  3  1 all mental health advocate appointments shall be made by the
  3  2 county board of supervisors in a patient's county of residence.
  3  3 If a patient has no county of residence, the county board
  3  4 of supervisors is directed to appoint an advocate from the
  3  5 county where the patient's hospital or facility is located to
  3  6 represent the patient's interests.  Under the bill, the mental
  3  7 health advocate in each county will be paid by the appropriate
  3  8 county and considered to be an employee of the county for
  3  9 purposes of Code chapter 670.
       LSB 1600YH (3) 86
       rh/rj