H.B. No. 21
AN ACT
relating to admission to and discharge from facilities for
voluntary inpatient mental health services for persons younger than
18 years of age.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 572.001(a) and (c), Health and Safety
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A person 16 years of age or older or a person younger
than 16 years of age who is or has been married may request
admission to an inpatient mental health facility by filing a
request with the administrator of the facility to which admission
is requested. The parent, managing conservator, or guardian of a
person younger than 18 [16] years of age who is not and has not been
married may request the admission of the person to an inpatient
mental health facility by filing a request with the administrator
of the facility to which admission is requested.
(c) A person or agency appointed as the guardian or a
managing conservator of a person [minor] younger than 18 [16] years
of age and acting as an employee or agent of the state or a political
subdivision of the state may request admission of the person
younger than 18 years of age [minor] only with the person's
[minor's] consent.
SECTION 2. Section 572.002, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 572.002. ADMISSION. The facility administrator or
the administrator's authorized, qualified designee may admit a
person for whom a proper request for voluntary inpatient services
is filed if the administrator or the designee determines:
(1) from a preliminary examination that the person has
symptoms of mental illness and will benefit from the inpatient
services;
(2) that the person has been informed of the person's
rights as a voluntary patient; and
(3) that the admission was voluntarily agreed to:
(A) by the person, if the person is:
(i) 16 years of age or older; or
(ii) younger than 16 years of age and is or
has been married; or
(B) by the person's parent, managing
conservator, or guardian, if the person is younger than 18 [16]
years of age and is not and has not been married.
SECTION 3. Section 572.003, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) In addition to the rights provided by this subtitle, a
person voluntarily admitted to an inpatient mental health facility
under Section 572.002(3)(B) has the right to be evaluated by a
physician at regular intervals to determine the person's need for
continued inpatient treatment. The department by rule shall
establish the intervals at which a physician shall evaluate a
person under this subsection.
SECTION 4. Section 572.004, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:
(i) On receipt of a written request for discharge from a
patient admitted under Section 572.002(3)(B), a facility shall
notify the patient's parent, managing conservator, or guardian of
the request.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 21 was passed by the House on April
24, 2003, by the following vote: Yeas 137, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 21 was passed by the Senate on May 26,
2003, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 2.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor