By: Moncrief S.B. No. 1588
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to a preliminary examination for emergency detention
1-3 because of mental illness.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subsection (b), Section 573.021, Health and
1-6 Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-7 (b) A person accepted for a preliminary examination may be
1-8 detained in custody for not longer than 24 hours after the time the
1-9 person is presented to the facility unless a written order for
1-10 further detention is obtained. The 24-hour period allowed by this
1-11 section includes any time the patient spends waiting in the
1-12 facility for medical care before the person receives the
1-13 preliminary examination. The period does not include any time
1-14 during which the person is actually receiving necessary medical
1-15 care in the facility's emergency room or emergency care in another
1-16 area of the facility. If the 24-hour period ends on a Saturday,
1-17 Sunday, legal holiday, or before 4 p.m. on the first succeeding
1-18 business day, the person may be detained until 4 p.m. on the first
1-19 succeeding business day. If extremely hazardous weather conditions
1-20 exist or a disaster occurs, the presiding judge or magistrate may,
1-21 by written order made each day, extend by an additional 24 hours
1-22 the period during which the person may be detained. The written
1-23 order must declare that an emergency exists because of the weather
1-24 or the occurrence of a disaster.
1-25 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
2-1 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
2-2 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
2-3 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
2-4 Act takes effect September 1, 2001.