Bill Text: TX HB4009 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: 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.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-20 - Referred to Public Health [HB4009 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB4009-Introduced.html
88R13945 EAS-D | ||
By: Reynolds | H.B. No. 4009 |
|
||
|
||
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 573.001(d), Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(d) A peace officer who takes a person into custody under | ||
Subsection (a) shall immediately[ |
||
[ |
||
(1) [ |
||
health facility located within 100 miles from where the person was | ||
apprehended; or | ||
(2) the nearest hospital emergency department, if the | ||
person is in need of emergency medical care [ |
||
[ |
||
SECTION 2. 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 3. 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 4. Section 573.022, Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended by amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsections (d) and | ||
(e) to read as follows: | ||
(c) A facility that has admitted a person for emergency | ||
detention under Subsection (a) or to which a person has been | ||
transported under Subsection (b) may transfer the person to an | ||
appropriate mental hospital with the written consent of the | ||
treating physician or hospital administrator. | ||
(d) A peace officer may transport a person approved for | ||
transfer under Subsection (c) without a court order if the person is | ||
still subject to an unexpired notification of detention filed under | ||
Section 573.002. A copy of the notification must accompany the | ||
person to the receiving facility. This subsection applies only in a | ||
county with a population of 550,000 or more that is adjacent to a | ||
county with a population of 3.3 million or more. | ||
(e) A treating physician or hospital administrator who | ||
recommends the transfer of a person under Subsection (c) to a more | ||
appropriate mental hospital is immune from civil liability if the | ||
recommendation was made based on a reasonable and prudent medical | ||
decision to ensure care for the person. | ||
SECTION 5. 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 6. 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 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |