1-1     By:  Thompson (Senate Sponsor - Ellis)                H.B. No. 2951

 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 27, 1997;

 1-3     April 29, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on

 1-4     Jurisprudence; May 18, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable

 1-5     Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0;

 1-6     May 18, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2951                   By:  Ellis

 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-9                                   AN ACT

1-10     relating to the provision of inpatient medical services to certain

1-11     incapacitated persons.

1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-13           SECTION 1.  Section 770, Texas Probate Code, is amended by

1-14     amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (e) and (f) to read

1-15     as follows:

1-16           (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (c), [or] (d), (e), or

1-17     (f) of this section, a guardian may not voluntarily admit an

1-18     incapacitated person to a public or private in-patient psychiatric

1-19     facility or to a residential facility operated by the Texas

1-20     Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation for care and

1-21     treatment.  If care and treatment in a psychiatric or a residential

1-22     facility are necessary, the person or the person's guardian may

1-23     apply for services under  Section 593.027 or 593.028, Health and

1-24     Safety Code, or apply to a court to commit the person under

1-25     Subtitle D, Title 7, Health and Safety Code (Persons with Mental

1-26     Retardation Act), Subtitle C, Title 7, Health and Safety Code

1-27     (Texas Mental Health Code), or Chapter 462, Health and Safety Code.

1-28           (e)  A guardian appointed under Section 693(b) of this code

1-29     with limited powers who has, under the order appointing the

1-30     guardian, the authority to make decisions on behalf of the

1-31     incapacitated person may apply to the court that granted the

1-32     guardianship for authority to voluntarily admit the person to a

1-33     public or private inpatient psychiatric facility for care and

1-34     treatment if the incapacitated person agrees to be placed in the

1-35     facility.

1-36           (f)  A guardian of a totally incapacitated person appointed

1-37     under Section 693(a) of this code may apply to the court that

1-38     granted the guardianship for authority to voluntarily admit the

1-39     person to a public or private inpatient psychiatric facility for

1-40     care and treatment.  The court shall appoint an attorney ad litem

1-41     for the incapacitated person, hold a hearing, and issue an order

1-42     approving or denying the application within 72 hours of the time

1-43     the application is filed with the court.  If the court approves the

1-44     application, the person shall be admitted to the facility.  Within

1-45     three business days of the person's admission, a licensed

1-46     psychiatrist at the facility shall make a determination as to

1-47     whether the incapacitated person is in need of court-ordered

1-48     inpatient medical services.  If the psychiatrist determines that

1-49     the person is not in need of court-ordered inpatient medical

1-50     services, the person shall be released from the facility on the

1-51     expiration of the original three business day admission period.  A

1-52     court shall only grant an application under this subsection if the

1-53     court finds, by clear and convincing evidence, based on the oral

1-54     testimony of at least one licensed psychiatrist that:

1-55                 (1)  the admission is in the person's best interest;

1-56     and

1-57                 (2)  the admission is medically necessary.

1-58           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.

1-59           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-60     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-61     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-62     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-63     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.