State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Vermont > Title-18 > Chapter-179 > 7505
§ 7505. Warrant for immediate examination
(a) In emergency circumstances where a certification by a physician is not available without serious and unreasonable delay, and when personal observation of the conduct of a person constitutes reasonable grounds to believe that the person is a person in need of treatment, and he presents an immediate risk of serious injury to himself or others if not restrained, a law enforcement officer or mental health professional may make an application, not accompanied by a physician's certificate, to any district or superior judge for a warrant for an immediate examination.
(b) The law enforcement officer or mental health professional may take the person into temporary custody and shall apply to the court without delay for the warrant.
(c) If the judge is satisfied that a physician's certificate is not available without serious and unreasonable delay, and that probable cause exists to believe that the person is in need of an immediate examination, he may order the person to submit to an immediate examination at a designated hospital.
(d) If necessary, the court may order the law enforcement officer or mental health professional to transport the person to a designated hospital for an immediate examination.
(e) Upon admission to a designated hospital, the person shall be immediately examined by a licensed physician. If the physician certifies that the person is a person in need of treatment, the person shall be held for an emergency examination in accordance with section 7508 of this title. If the physician does not certify that the person is a person in need of treatment, he shall immediately discharge the person and cause him to be returned to the place from which he was taken, or to such place as the person reasonably directs. (Added 1967, No. 305 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1968; amended 1977, No. 252 (Adj. Sess.), § 8.)
