BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 888

By: Naishtat

Public Health

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Under Texas law, a person may be detained by a peace officer without a warrant if the circumstances lead the officer to conclude there is reasonable cause to believe that the person is mentally ill and, because of the mental illness, there is a substantial risk of imminent, serious harm to the mentally ill person or others. Currently, except for weekends and holidays, this detention may last no longer than 48 hours, excluding any time the person spends receiving medical care in the emergency room, unless the probate court has issued an order of protective custody.  On most weekdays, the detention period ends at 4 p.m. on the second day after detention begins. When the 48-hour detention period ends on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the detention period is extended and ends at 12 p.m. on the next business day after the weekend or holiday.  For detentions beginning on a Thursday or Friday, current law requires the order of protective custody to be obtained by 12 p.m. on the following Monday, unless the following Monday is a legal holiday.  In these cases, the order of protective custody must be obtained by 12 p.m. on the first succeeding business day after the holiday.

Many hospitals and examining physicians find it difficult to examine and observe persons detained on Thursday and Friday, whose 48-hour detention period ends on  the weekend or a holiday, and have the paperwork filed for an order of protective custody with the probate court by 12 p.m. the next business day following the weekend or holiday.  This 12 p.m. deadline is confusing as it is out of sync with the 4 p.m. rule that applies to all other emergency detentions.  Due to the difficulty of meeting this deadline, many hospitals and examining physicians make the filings later in the day than 12 p.m. 

H.B. 888 changes the time by which the detention period ends for a 48-hour detention that begins on a Thursday or Friday or is scheduled to end on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 888 amends the Health and Safety Code to extend from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on the first succeeding business day the time until which a person accepted by a mental health facility for a preliminary mental health examination may be detained if the 48-hour maximum custody period ends on a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or before 4 p.m. on the first succeeding business day.

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or, if the act does not receive the necessary vote, the act takes effect September 1, 2009.