Bill Text: MS SB2816 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Civil Commitment Reform Act; enact.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2024-03-05 - Died In Committee [SB2816 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2024-SB2816-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2024 Regular Session
To: Judiciary, Division A; Appropriations
By: Senator(s) Horhn
Senate Bill 2816
AN ACT TO ENACT THE CIVIL COMMITMENT REFORM ACT; TO DEFINE TERMS; TO CREATE THE CIVIL COMMITMENT REFORM GRANT PROGRAM TO BE ADMINISTERED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENSURING THAT NO PERSON IS HELD IN JAIL PRIOR TO CIVIL COMMITMENT FOR MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT BY EXPANDING AVAILABLE FACILITIES AT THE COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH CENTERS THROUGHOUT THE STATE; TO PROVIDE THAT EACH COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH CENTER SHALL RECEIVE A MINIMUM AMOUNT UNDER THE GRANT PROGRAM; TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO PROMULGATE RULES AND REGULATIONS TO ADMINISTER THE GRANT PROGRAM; TO CREATE THE CIVIL COMMITMENT REFORM FUND AS A SPECIAL FUND IN THE STATE TREASURY; TO PROVIDE THAT MONIES APPROPRIATED OUT OF THE FUND MAY BE USED TO REIMBURSE ACTUAL OVERSIGHT COSTS UP TO A CERTAIN AMOUNT; TO AMEND SECTION 41-21-67, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO DELETE THE AUTHORITY OF A COURT TO HOLD A PERSON IN JAIL PRIOR TO CIVIL COMMITMENT; TO AMEND SECTION 41-20-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AMEND THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE COORDINATOR OF MENTAL HEALTH ACCESSIBILITY; TO REQUIRE THE COORDINATOR TO DETERMINE RELEVANT FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF GRANTS UNDER THIS ACT; TO REPEAL SECTION 41-21-68, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDES THE AUTHORITY FOR REGIONAL COMMISSIONS TO ESTABLISH HOLDING FACILITIES FOR PERSONS FOR THE PURPOSE OF CIVIL COMMITMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Civil Commitment Reform Act".
SECTION 2. For purposes of this act, the following words shall have the meanings ascribed herein unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(a) "Department" means the Department of Mental Health.
(b) "Grant Program" means the Civil Commitment Reform Grant Program established in this act.
(c) "Community Mental Health Center" means the centers authorized in Section 41-19-33.
SECTION 3. (1) There is established the Civil Commitment Reform Grant Program which shall be administered by the department for the purpose of ensuring that no person is held in jail prior to civil commitment for mental health treatment by expanding available facilities at the community mental health centers throughout the state.
(2) The department shall distribute grants to the community mental health centers. Each community mental health center shall receive a grant in the amount of at least Five Hundred Thousand Dollars ($500,000.00) under the grant program by October 1, 2024.
(3) The State Department of Mental Health shall promulgate rules and regulations to administer the grant program. The rules and regulations promulgated by the State Department of Mental Health may include the following considerations for recipients of grant funds:
(a) The number of persons held in holding facilities before civil commitment under Section 41-21-68 on the date of passage of this act;
(b) The needs of the individual community mental health centers, including existing facility upgrades and geographic considerations of the center's region;
(c) Any relevant factor determined by the Coordinator of Mental Health Accessibility; and
(d) Any other relevant factor to be determined by the State Department of Mental Health.
(4) The State Department of Mental Health shall provide an annual report to the Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the House and Governor concerning the distribution of funds under this grant program. The report shall be filed by December 1 of each year.
SECTION 4. (1) There is created a special fund in the State Treasury to be known as the "Civil Commitment Reform Fund" which shall consist of monies from any source designated for deposit into the fund. Unexpended amounts remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General Fund, and any investment earnings or interest earned on amounts in the fund shall be deposited to the credit of the fund.
(2) (a) Monies in the fund shall be disbursed by the department for the purposes described in this act.
(b) In addition to the purposes in paragraph (a) of this subsection, monies appropriated out of the fund may be used to reimburse reasonable actual and necessary oversight costs incurred by the department in providing grants or loans under this section. The department shall maintain an accounting of actual costs and expenses incurred for which reimbursement is sought for each grant or loan. Reimbursement of reasonable actual and necessary costs and expenses for assistance shall not exceed one and twenty-five one-hundredths percent (1.25%) of the monies appropriated out of the fund. Reimbursements made under this paragraph shall satisfy any applicable federal tax law requirements.
SECTION 5. Section 41-21-67, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
41-21-67. (1) Whenever the
affidavit provided for in Section 41-21-65 is filed with the chancery clerk,
the clerk, upon direction of the chancellor of the court, shall issue a writ
directed to the sheriff of the proper county to take into custody the person
alleged to be in need of treatment and to take the person for pre-evaluation
screening and treatment by the appropriate community mental health center
established under Section 41-19-31. The community mental health center will be
designated as the first point of entry for pre-evaluation screening and
treatment. If the community mental health center is unavailable, any reputable
licensed physician, psychologist, nurse practitioner or physician assistant, as
allowed in the discretion of the court, may conduct the pre-evaluation
screening and examination as set forth in Section 41-21-69. The order may provide
where the person shall be held before being taken for pre-evaluation screening
and treatment. However, when the affidavit fails to set forth factual
allegations and witnesses sufficient to support the need for treatment, the
chancellor shall refuse to direct issuance of the writ. Reapplication may be
made to the chancellor. If a pauper's affidavit is filed by an affiant who is
a guardian or conservator of a person in need of treatment, the court shall
determine if either the affiant or the person in need of treatment is a pauper
and if * * *
the affiant or the person in need of treatment is determined to be a pauper,
the county of the residence of the respondent shall bear the costs of
commitment, unless funds for those purposes are made available by the state.
In any county in which a Crisis Intervention Team has been established under the provisions of Sections 41-21-131 through 41-21-143, the clerk, upon the direction of the chancellor, may require that the person be referred to the Crisis Intervention Team for appropriate psychiatric or other medical services before the issuance of the writ.
(2) Upon issuance of the writ, the chancellor shall immediately appoint and summon two (2) reputable, licensed physicians or one (1) reputable, licensed physician and either one (1) psychologist, nurse practitioner or physician assistant to conduct a physical and mental examination of the person at a place to be designated by the clerk or chancellor and to report their findings to the clerk or chancellor. However, any nurse practitioner or physician assistant conducting the examination shall be independent from, and not under the supervision of, the other physician conducting the examination. A nurse practitioner or psychiatric nurse practitioner conducting an examination under this chapter must be functioning within a collaborative or consultative relationship with a physician as required under Section 73-15-20(3). In all counties in which there is a county health officer, the county health officer, if available, may be one (1) of the physicians so appointed. If a licensed physician is not available to conduct the physical and mental examination within forty-eight (48) hours of the issuance of the writ, the court, in its discretion and upon good cause shown, may permit the examination to be conducted by the following: (a) two (2) nurse practitioners, one (1) of whom must be a psychiatric nurse practitioner; or (b) one (1) psychiatric nurse practitioner and one (1) psychologist or physician assistant. Neither of the physicians nor the psychologist, nurse practitioner or physician assistant selected shall be related to that person in any way, nor have any direct or indirect interest in the estate of that person nor shall any full-time staff of residential treatment facilities operated directly by the State Department of Mental Health serve as examiner.
(3) The clerk shall ascertain whether the respondent is represented by an attorney, and if it is determined that the respondent does not have an attorney, the clerk shall immediately notify the chancellor of that fact. If the chancellor determines that the respondent for any reason does not have the services of an attorney, the chancellor shall immediately appoint an attorney for the respondent at the time the examiners are appointed.
(4) If the chancellor
determines that there is probable cause to believe that the respondent is
mentally ill and that there is no reasonable alternative to detention, the
chancellor may order that the respondent be retained as an emergency patient at
any licensed medical facility for evaluation by a physician, nurse practitioner
or physician assistant and that a peace officer transport the respondent to the
specified facility. If the community mental health center serving the county
has partnered with Crisis Intervention Teams under the provisions of Sections
41-21-131 through 41-21-143, the order may specify that the licensed medical
facility be a designated single point of entry within the county or within an
adjacent county served by the community mental health center. If the person
evaluating the respondent finds that the respondent is mentally ill and in need
of treatment, the chancellor may order that the respondent be retained at the
licensed medical facility or any other available suitable location as the court
may so designate pending an admission hearing. If necessary, the chancellor
may order a peace officer or other person to transport the respondent to that
facility or suitable location. Any respondent so retained may be given such
treatment as is indicated by standard medical practice. However, the respondent
shall not be held in a hospital operated directly by the State Department of
Mental Health, and shall not be held in jail * * *.
(5) (a) Whenever a licensed psychologist, nurse practitioner or physician assistant who is certified to complete examinations for the purpose of commitment or a licensed physician has reason to believe that a person poses an immediate substantial likelihood of physical harm to himself or others or is gravely disabled and unable to care for himself by virtue of mental illness, as defined in Section 41-21-61(e), then the physician, psychologist, nurse practitioner or physician assistant may hold the person or may admit the person to and treat the person in a licensed medical facility, without a civil order or warrant for a period not to exceed seventy-two (72) hours. However, if the seventy-two-hour period begins or ends when the chancery clerk's office is closed, or within three (3) hours of closing, and the chancery clerk's office will be continuously closed for a time that exceeds seventy-two (72) hours, then the seventy-two-hour period is extended until the end of the next business day that the chancery clerk's office is open. The person may be held and treated as an emergency patient at any licensed medical facility, available regional mental health facility, or crisis intervention center. The physician or psychologist, nurse practitioner or physician assistant who holds the person shall certify in writing the reasons for the need for holding.
If a person is being held and treated in a licensed medical facility, and that person decides to continue treatment by voluntarily signing consent for admission and treatment, the seventy-two-hour hold may be discontinued without filing an affidavit for commitment. Any respondent so held may be given such treatment as indicated by standard medical practice. Persons acting in good faith in connection with the detention and reporting of a person believed to be mentally ill shall incur no liability, civil or criminal, for those acts.
(b) Whenever an individual is held for purposes of receiving treatment as prescribed under paragraph (a) of this subsection, and it is communicated to the mental health professional holding the individual that the individual resides or has visitation rights with a minor child, and if the individual is considered to be a danger to the minor child, the mental health professional shall notify the Department of Child Protection Services prior to discharge if the threat of harm continues to exist, as is required under Section 43-21-353.
This paragraph (b) shall be known and may be cited as the "Andrew Lloyd Law."
SECTION 6. Section 41-20-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
41-20-5. The coordinator shall have the following powers and duties:
(a) To perform a comprehensive review of Mississippi's mental health system to determine whether mental health services, including community mental health services, are offered in each county and available to the entire population of each county, especially to those with serious and persistent mental illness.
(b) To analyze and review the structure of the mental health system.
(c) To review the adequacy and quality of the individualized supports and services provided to persons discharged from the state hospitals or to persons at risk of institutionalization throughout the state.
(d) To review the quarterly financial statements and status reports of the individual community mental health centers described in Section 41-19-33(3)(b).
(e) To consult with the Special Master appointed in the United States of America v. State of Mississippi, No. 3:16-CV-622-CWR-FKB (S.D. Miss. Feb. 25, 2020) or any monitor or other person appointed by the court, the State Department of Mental Health, the Division of Medicaid, the State Department of Rehabilitation Services, the State Department of Health, county boards of supervisors, regional commissions, community mental health centers, mental health advocates, community leaders and any other necessary parties or entities, both private and governmental, regarding the status of the services offered by Mississippi's mental health system.
(f) To determine where in any county, or geographic area within a county, the delivery or availability of mental health services are inadequate.
(g) To determine whether each community mental health center has sufficient funds to provide the required mental health services.
(h) To coordinate with the State Department of Mental Health on the development of relevant factors to be considered in the distribution of grants under Section 1 of this act.
( * * *i) To report on the status of the
mental health system quarterly to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the
Speaker of the House, the State Department of Mental Health, the regional
commissions, the Division of Medicaid, the State Department of Rehabilitative
Services, the State Department of Health, the Department of Finance and Administration,
the PEER Committee and the Legislative Budget Office. The coordinator shall
deliver the quarterly status report to the Secretary of the Senate and the
Clerk of the House, who shall disseminate the report to the appropriate
members.
( * * *j) In addition to the quarterly report
required by paragraph (h), to provide the PEER Committee each quarter with a
financial report, assessment and review of each community mental health region
and the services provided by the region, together with findings by the
coordinator on other relevant matters relating to the region. The State
Department of Mental Health and the regional commissions shall cooperate with
the PEER Committee in its assessment and review of the community mental health
regions and shall provide the committee with all necessary information and
documentation as requested by the committee.
SECTION 7. Section 41-21-68, Mississippi Code of 1972, which provides the authority for regional commissions to establish regional holding facilities for persons for the purpose of civil commitment, is repealed.
SECTION 8. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
