31-226

31-226. Mentally disordered prisoner; procedure
for voluntary or involuntary hospitalization; notice; hearing;
transfer; reports; return to incarceration or release; costs;
definition

A. If a prisoner confined in any facility operated by the state department of
corrections displays symptoms of mental disorder to such a degree that transfer to the
state hospital or a licensed behavioral health or mental health inpatient treatment
facility operated by the state department of corrections is necessary to ensure adequate
treatment, the psychiatrist of the facility, or if no psychiatrist is available, the
physician at the facility, shall examine the prisoner and make a written report of the
psychiatrist's or physician's recommendations to the director of the state department of
corrections. On receipt of a report that states that the psychiatrist or physician finds
that the symptoms described in this subsection exist, the director of the state
department of corrections may allow the prisoner to voluntarily transfer to a licensed
behavioral health or mental health inpatient treatment facility operated by the state
department of corrections if the prisoner is an adult male, to the state hospital or a
licensed behavioral health treatment facility operated by the state department of
corrections if the prisoner is a female or to the state hospital if the prisoner is a
minor. If the patient does not voluntarily transfer, the director shall file a petition
with the superior court in the county in which the prisoner is incarcerated for transfer
for treatment of the prisoner to the state hospital or a licensed behavioral health
treatment facility operated by the state department of corrections if the prisoner is a
female, to a licensed behavioral health or mental health inpatient treatment facility
operated by the state department of corrections if the prisoner is an adult male or to
the state hospital if the prisoner is a minor.

B. At least ten days before the court conducts the hearing on the petition for
transfer, the state department of corrections shall provide a copy of the petition and
written notice of the hearing to the prisoner and written notice of the prisoner's rights
at the hearing.

C. At least five days before the hearing, if the prisoner has not employed counsel,
the court shall appoint counsel or an independent advisor to represent the prisoner at
the hearing. On application by the prisoner the court shall also determine the necessity
for any expert testimony by medical witnesses and authorize any necessary appointment and
compensation for these witnesses at the state's expense. Notice shall be given to the
state hospital if the prisoner is a female or a minor, and the state hospital shall be
provided with an opportunity to participate in the hearing as an interested party, if it
so desires.

D. At the hearing, the prisoner or the prisoner's representative may call witnesses
to testify and may confront and cross-examine witnesses called by the state department of
corrections except on a finding of good cause for not permitting such presentation,
confrontation or cross-examination.

E. If the prisoner is determined to be suffering from a mental disorder to such a
degree that transfer to the state hospital or a licensed behavioral health or mental
health inpatient treatment facility operated by the state department of corrections is
necessary to ensure adequate treatment, the court shall order and direct that the
prisoner be transferred for treatment to the state hospital in the legal custody of the
state department of corrections or a licensed behavioral health treatment facility
operated by the state department of corrections if the prisoner is a female, to a
licensed behavioral health or mental health inpatient treatment facility operated by the
state department of corrections if the prisoner is an adult male or to the state hospital
if the prisoner is a minor. The transfer of the prisoner to the state hospital shall be
made by the state department of corrections. The court order must be in writing and
state the evidence relied on and the reasons for transferring the prisoner.

F. The superintendent of the state hospital shall provide the state department of
corrections with a quarterly report of the condition of a prisoner transferred to the
state hospital. The superintendent of the state hospital and the director of the state
department of corrections shall also provide the superior court in the county which has
jurisdiction over the transfer proceeding with a quarterly report of the condition of the
prisoner.

G. If, in the opinion of the superintendent of the state hospital or the director
of the state department of corrections, the prisoner no longer suffers from a mental
disorder such that placement in the state hospital or the licensed behavioral health or
mental health inpatient treatment facility operated by the state department of
corrections is necessary to ensure adequate treatment, the superintendent of the state
hospital or the director of the state department of corrections shall order the prisoner
to a licensed behavioral health treatment facility operated by the state department of
corrections or returned to a prison facility to serve the prisoner's unexpired term, and
the period the prisoner was confined in the state hospital or the behavioral health or
mental health treatment agency shall be considered as though incarcerated in a state
department of corrections facility. If the term of imprisonment expires during the time
the prisoner is confined in the state hospital or the behavioral health or mental health
inpatient treatment facility, the director of the state department of corrections shall
issue to the prisoner an absolute discharge at that time, and the prisoner's rights to
release from the hospital are as provided in title 36, chapter 5.

H. A court-ordered evaluation may be made in accordance with title 36, chapter 5,
article 4 if, within one hundred twenty days of the prisoner's scheduled release from
prison or during any time that the prisoner is on release status, the prisoner appears to
be, as a result of a mental disorder, a danger to self or to others, or gravely
disabled, and is unwilling to undergo a voluntary evaluation. For the purposes of this
section, an inpatient mental health treatment facility operated by the state department
of corrections is authorized to act as a screening agency. If the court orders inpatient
evaluation, the order shall take effect on the day of the prisoner's scheduled release,
or if the prisoner is on release status, on a date determined by the court, and the
state department of corrections shall deliver the prisoner to the evaluation
agency. Thereafter, all further evaluation and treatment shall be in accordance with
the provisions of title 36, chapter 5, as they pertain to civil patients.

I. The state department of corrections shall pay all costs incurred for the
prisoner during the term of the prisoner's sentence.

J. The county in which the court is located shall be reimbursed for expenses of the
proceedings incurred by the county in accordance with section 31-227.

K. As used in this section "mental disorder" has the same meaning prescribed in
section 36-501.