1-1     By:  Moncrief                                         S.B. No. 1588
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 9, 2001; March 14, 2001, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Health and Human Services;
 1-4     April 11, 2001, reported favorably, as amended, by the following
 1-5     vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0; April 11, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6     COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1                             By:  Moncrief
 1-7     Amend S.B. No. 1588, on page 1, line 24, by inserting "emergency
 1-8     care" between "room or" and "in another".
 1-9                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-10                                   AN ACT
1-11     relating to a preliminary examination for emergency detention
1-12     because of mental illness.
1-13           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-14           SECTION 1.  Subsection (b), Section 573.021, Health and
1-15     Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-16           (b)  A person accepted for a preliminary examination may be
1-17     detained in custody for not longer than 24 hours after the time the
1-18     person is presented to the facility unless a written order for
1-19     further detention is obtained.  The 24-hour period allowed by this
1-20     section includes any time the patient spends waiting in the
1-21     facility for medical care before the person receives the
1-22     preliminary examination.  The period does not include any time
1-23     during which the person is actually receiving necessary medical
1-24     care in the facility's emergency room or in another area of the
1-25     facility.  If the 24-hour period ends on a Saturday, Sunday, legal
1-26     holiday, or before 4 p.m. on the first succeeding business day, the
1-27     person may be detained until 4 p.m. on the first succeeding
1-28     business day.  If extremely hazardous weather conditions exist or a
1-29     disaster occurs, the presiding judge or magistrate may, by written
1-30     order made each day, extend by an additional 24 hours the period
1-31     during which the person may be detained.  The written order must
1-32     declare that an emergency exists because of the weather or the
1-33     occurrence of a disaster.
1-34           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
1-35     a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
1-36     provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
1-37     Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
1-38     Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
1-39                                  * * * * *