Bill Text: WV SB652 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requiring mental hygiene commissioner be on call
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-03-18 - To Health and Human Resources [SB652 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2017-SB652-Introduced.html
WEST virginia Legislature
2017 regular session
Introduced
Senate Bill 652
By Senators Boso and Cline
[Introduced March 18, 2017;
Referred
to the Committee on Health and Human Resources]
A BILL to amend and reenact §27-5-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to requiring that a mental hygiene commissioner be on call at all times.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §27-5-1 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. INVOLUNTARY HOSPITALIZATION.
§27-5-1. Appointment of Mental Hygiene Commissioner; duties of Mental Hygiene Commissioner; duties of prosecuting attorney; duties of sheriff; duties of Supreme Court of Appeals; use of certified municipal law-enforcement officers.
(a) Appointment of
Mental Hygiene Commissioners. -- The chief judge in each judicial circuit
of this state shall appoint a competent attorney and may, if necessary, appoint
additional attorneys to serve as Mental Hygiene Commissioners to preside over
involuntary hospitalization hearings. Mental Hygiene Commissioners shall be
persons of good moral character and of standing in their profession and they
shall, before assuming the duties of such commissioner, take the oath
required of other special commissioners as provided in article one, chapter six
of this code.
All persons newly appointed
to serve as Mental Hygiene Commissioners shall attend and complete an
orientation course, within one year of their appointment, consisting of at
least three days of training provided annually by the Supreme Court of Appeals.
In addition, existing Mental Hygiene Commissioners and any magistrates
designated by the chief judge of a judicial circuit to hold probable cause and
emergency detention hearings involving involuntary hospitalization shall attend
and complete a course provided by the Supreme Court of Appeals, which course
shall include, but not be limited to, instruction on the manifestations of
mental illness and addiction. Persons attending such these courses
outside the county of their residence shall be reimbursed out of the budget of
the Supreme Court -- General Judicial for reasonable expenses incurred. The
Supreme Court shall establish rules for such these courses,
including rules providing for the reimbursement of reasonable expenses as
authorized herein.
(b) Duties of Mental Hygiene Commissioners. --
(1) Mental Hygiene
Commissioners may sign and issue summonses for the attendance, at any hearing
held pursuant to section four, article five of this chapter, of the individual
sought to be committed; may sign and issue subpoenas for witnesses, including
subpoenas duces tecum; may place any witness under oath; may elicit testimony
from applicants, respondents and witnesses regarding factual issues raised in
the petition; and may make findings of fact on evidence and may make
conclusions of law, but such the findings and conclusions shall
may not be binding on the circuit court. All Mental Hygiene
Commissioners shall be reasonably compensated at a uniform rate determined by
the Supreme Court of Appeals. Mental Hygiene Commissioners shall submit all
requests for compensation to the administrative director of the courts for
payment. Mental Hygiene Commissioners shall discharge their duties and hold
their offices at the pleasure of the chief judge of the judicial circuit in
which he or she is appointed and may be removed at any time by such the
chief judge. It shall be is the duty of a Mental Hygiene
Commissioner to conduct orderly inquiries into the mental health of the
individual sought to be committed concerning the advisability of committing the
individual to a mental health facility. The Mental Hygiene Commissioner shall
safeguard, at all times, the rights and interests of the individual as well as
the interests of the state. The Mental Hygiene Commissioner shall make a
written report of his or her findings to the circuit court. In any proceedings
before any court of record as set forth in this article, the court of record
shall appoint an interpreter for any individual who is deaf or cannot speak or
who speaks a foreign language and who may be subject to involuntary commitment
to a mental health facility.
(2) A Mental Hygiene
Commissioner appointed by the circuit court of one county or multiple county
circuit may serve in such that capacity in a jurisdiction other
than that of his or her original appointment if such be agreed upon by
the terms of a cooperative agreement between the circuit courts and county
commissions of two or more counties entered into to provide prompt
resolution of mental hygiene matters during noncourt hours or on nonjudicial
days. At least one Mental Hygiene Commissioner shall be on call at all times
in each county or multiple county circuits.
(c) Duties of
prosecuting attorney. -- It shall be the duty of The prosecuting
attorney or one of his or her assistants to shall represent the
applicants in all final commitment proceedings filed pursuant to the provisions
of this article. The prosecuting attorney may appear in any proceeding held
pursuant to the provisions of this article if he or she deems determines
it to be in the public interest.
(d) Duties of sheriff. --
Upon written order of the circuit court, Mental Hygiene Commissioner or
magistrate in the county where the individual formally accused of being
mentally ill or addicted is a resident or is found, the sheriff of that county
shall take said that individual into custody and transport him or
her to and from the place of hearing and the mental health facility. The sheriff
shall also maintain custody and control of the accused individual during the
period of time in which the individual is waiting for the involuntary
commitment hearing to be convened and while such the hearing is
being conducted: Provided, That an individual who is a resident of a
state other than West Virginia shall, upon a finding of probable cause, be
transferred to his or her state of residence for treatment pursuant to
subsection (p), section four of this article: Provided, however, That
where an individual is a resident of West Virginia but not a resident of the
county in which he or she is found and there is a finding of probable cause,
the county in which the hearing is held may seek reimbursement from the county
of residence for reasonable costs incurred by the county attendant to the
mental hygiene proceeding. Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, sheriffs may enter into cooperative agreements with sheriffs of one
or more other counties, with the concurrence of their respective circuit courts
and county commissions, whereby transportation and security responsibilities
for hearings held pursuant to the provisions of this article during noncourt
hours or on nonjudicial days may be shared in order to facilitate prompt
hearings and to effectuate transportation of persons found in need of
treatment.
(e) Duty of sheriff upon presentment to mental health care facility. -- Where a person is brought to a mental health care facility for purposes of evaluation for commitment under this article, if he or she is violent or combative, the sheriff or his or her designee shall maintain custody of the person in the facility until the evaluation is completed or the county commission shall reimburse the mental health care facility at a reasonable rate for security services provided by the mental health care facility for the period of time the person is at the hospital prior to the determination of mental competence or incompetence.
(f) Duties of Supreme Court of Appeals. -- The Supreme Court of Appeals shall provide uniform petition, procedure and order forms which shall be used in all involuntary hospitalization proceedings brought in this state.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require a Mental Hygiene Commissioner to be on call at all times.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
