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78R8932 T
By: Brown of Kaufman H.B. No. 2836
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to general provisions proceedings for court ordered mental
health services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
PART 1. Health and Safety Code--Title 7. SUBTITLE C. Texas
Mental Health Code, Subchapter C, Section 574.031 to read as
follows:
Sec. 574.031. General Provisions Relating to Hearing (a)
Except as provided by Subsection (b), the judge may hold a hearing
on an application for court-ordered mental health services at any
suitable location in the county. The hearing should be held in a
physical setting that is not likely to have a harmful effect on the
proposed patient.
(b) On the request of the proposed patient or the proposed
patient's attorney the hearing on the application shall be held in
the county courthouse.
(c) The proposed patient is entitled to be present at the
hearing. The proposed patient or the proposed patient's attorney
may waive this right.
(d) The hearing must be open to the public unless the
proposed patient or the proposed patient's attorney requests that
the hearing be closed and the judge determines that there is good
cause to close the hearing.
(e) The Texas Rules of Evidence apply to the hearing unless
the rules are inconsistent with this subtitle.
(f) The court may consider the testimony of a nonphysician
mental health professional in addition to medical or psychiatric
testimony.
(g) The hearing is on the record, and the state must prove
each element of the applicable criteria by clear and convincing
evidence.
(h) A judge who holds a hearing under this section in
hospitals or locations other than the county courthouse is entitled
to be reimbursed for the judge's reasonable and necessary expenses
related to holding a hearing at that location. The judge shall
furnish the presiding judge of the statutory probate courts or the
presiding judge of the administrative region, as appropriate, an
accounting of the expenses for certification. The presiding judge
shall provide a certification of expenses approved to the county
judge responsible for payment of costs under Section 571.018.
(i) A judge who holds hearings at locations other than the
county courthouse also may receive a reasonable salary supplement
in an amount set by the commissioners court.
(j) Notwithstanding other law, a judge who holds a hearing
under this section may assess for the judge's services a fee in an
amount not to exceed $50 as a court cost against the county
responsible for the payment of the costs of the hearing under
Section 571.018.
(k) Notwithstanding other law, a judge who holds a hearing
under this section may assess for the services of a prosecuting
attorney a fee in an amount not to exceed $50 as a court cost against
the county responsible for the payment of the costs of the hearing
under Section 571.018. For a mental health proceeding, the fee
assessed under this subsection includes costs incurred for the
preparation of documents related to the proceeding. The court may
award as court costs fees for other costs of a mental health
proceeding against the county responsible for the payment of the
costs of the hearing under Section 571.018.
(l) Notwithstanding other law, as electronic
teleconferencing equipment that provides real time audio and video
presentation is made available to a court a judge who holds a
hearing under this section related to the court-ordered mental
health services in a mental health facility owned and operated by
the State of Texas must utilize that technology by allowing any and
all testimony required of any licensed independent practitioner
employed by the State of Texas or any licensed independent
practitioner employed by a TDMHMR designated Local Mental Health
and/or Mental Retardation Authority to be presented via the
electronic teleconferencing technology thereby reducing travel and
other associated expenses to the State of Texas and its
contractors.