By: Deuell S.B. No. 646

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to court-ordered outpatient mental health services.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 574, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Section 574.0125 to read as follows:

Sec. 574.0125. IDENTIFICATION OF PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR COURT-ORDERED OUTPATIENT MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES. Not later than the third day before the date of a hearing that may result in the judge ordering the patient to receive court-ordered outpatient mental health services, the judge shall identify the person the judge intends to designate to be responsible for those services under Section 574.037.

SECTION 2. Section 574.037, Health and Safety Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsections (b-1), (b-2), (c-1), (c-2), (c-3), and (c-4) to read as follows:

(a) The court, in an order that directs a patient to participate in outpatient mental health services, shall designate the person identified under Section 574.0125 as [identify a person who is] responsible for those services or may designate a different person if necessary. The person designated [identified] must be the facility administrator or an individual involved in providing court-ordered outpatient services. A person may not be designated as responsible for the ordered services without the person's consent unless the person is the facility administrator of a department facility or the facility administrator of a community center that provides mental health services in the region in which the committing court is located.

(b) The person responsible for the services shall submit to the court [within two weeks after the court enters the order] a general program of the treatment to be provided as required by this subsection and Subsection (b-2). The program must be incorporated into the court order. The program must include:

(1) services to provide care coordination; and

(2) any other treatment or services, including medication and supported housing, that are available and considered clinically necessary by a treating physician or the person responsible for the services to assist the patient in functioning safely in the community.

(b-1) If the patient is receiving inpatient mental health services at the time the program is being prepared, the person responsible for the services under this section shall seek input from the patient's inpatient treatment providers in preparing the program.

(b-2) The person responsible for the services shall submit the program to the court before the hearing under Section 574.034 or 574.035 or before the court modifies an order under Section 574.061, as appropriate.

(c-1) A patient subject to court-ordered outpatient services may petition the court for specific enforcement of the court order.

(c-2) A court may, on its own motion, set a status conference with the person responsible for the services, the patient, and the patient's attorney.

(c-3) The court shall order the patient to participate in the program but may not compel performance. If a court receives information under Subsection (c)(1) that a patient is not complying with the court's order, the court may:

(1) set a modification hearing under Section 574.062; and

(2) issue an order for temporary detention if an application is filed under Section 574.063.

(c-4) The failure of a patient to comply with the program incorporated into a court order is not grounds for punishment for contempt of court under Section 21.002, Government Code.

SECTION 3. Subsection (f), Section 574.061, Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

(f) If the court modifies the order, the court shall designate [identify] a person to be responsible for the outpatient services as prescribed by Section 574.037.

SECTION 4. Subsection (b), Section 574.063, Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) The application must state the applicant's opinion and detail the reasons for the applicant's opinion that:

(1) the patient meets the criteria described by Section 574.064(a-1) [574.065(a)]; and

(2) detention in an inpatient mental health facility is necessary to evaluate the appropriate setting for continued court-ordered services.

SECTION 5. Section 574.064, Health and Safety Code, is amended by adding Subsections (a-1) and (a-2) and amending Subsections (b) and (e) to read as follows:

(a-1) A physician shall evaluate the patient as soon as possible within 24 hours after the time detention begins to determine whether the patient, due to mental illness, presents a substantial risk of serious harm to the patient or others so that the patient cannot be at liberty pending the probable cause hearing under Subsection (b). The determination that the patient presents a substantial risk of serious harm to the patient or others may be demonstrated by:

(1) the patient's behavior; or

(2) evidence of severe emotional distress and deterioration in the patient's mental condition to the extent that the patient cannot live safely in the community.

(a-2) If the physician who conducted the evaluation determines that the patient does not present a substantial risk of serious harm to the patient or others, the facility shall:

(1) notify:

(A) the person designated under Section 574.037 as responsible for providing outpatient mental health services or the facility administrator of the outpatient facility treating the patient; and

(B) the court that entered the order directing the patient to receive court-ordered outpatient mental health services; and

(2) release the patient.

(b) A patient who is not released under Subsection (a-2) may be detained under a temporary detention order for more than 72 hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, legal holidays, and the period prescribed by Section 574.025(b) for an extreme emergency only if, after a hearing held before the expiration of that period, the court, a magistrate, or a designated associate judge finds that there is probable cause to believe that:

(1) the patient, due to mental illness, presents a substantial risk of serious harm to the patient or others, using the criteria prescribed by Subsection (a-1), to the extent that the patient cannot be at liberty pending the final hearing under Section 574.062 [meets the criteria described by Section 574.065(a)]; and

(2) detention in an inpatient mental health facility is necessary to evaluate the appropriate setting for continued court-ordered services.

(e) A patient released from an inpatient mental health facility under Subsection (a-2) or (d) continues to be subject to the order for court-ordered outpatient services, if the order has not expired.

SECTION 6. Subsection (a), Section 574.065, Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) The court may modify an order for outpatient services at the modification hearing if the court determines that the patient meets the applicable criteria for court-ordered inpatient mental health services prescribed by Section 574.034(a) or 574.035(a).

SECTION 7. The heading to Subchapter G, Chapter 574, Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER G. ADMINISTRATION OF MEDICATION TO PATIENT UNDER COURT

ORDER FOR [INPATIENT] MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

SECTION 8. Section 574.102, Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 574.102. APPLICATION OF SUBCHAPTER. This subchapter applies to the application of medication to a patient subject to a court [an] order for [inpatient] mental health services under this chapter or other law.

SECTION 9. Section 574.103, Health and Safety Code, is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:

(b) A person may not administer a psychoactive medication to a patient under court-ordered inpatient mental health services who refuses to take the medication voluntarily unless:

(1) the patient is having a medication-related emergency;

(2) the patient is under an order issued under Section 574.106 authorizing the administration of the medication regardless of the patient's refusal; or

(3) the patient is a ward who is 18 years of age or older and the guardian of the person of the ward consents to the administration of psychoactive medication regardless of the ward's expressed preferences regarding treatment with psychoactive medication.

(c) A person may not administer a psychoactive medication to a patient under court-ordered outpatient mental health services who refuses to take medication voluntarily unless:

(1) the person is having a medication-related emergency; and

(2) the psychoactive medication does not include long-acting injectable medications.

SECTION 10. Subsection (i), Section 574.034, and Subsection (j), Section 574.035, Health and Safety Code, are repealed.

SECTION 11. The change in law made by this Act applies only to an application for court-ordered mental health services or temporary detention filed on or after the effective date of this Act. An application filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the application was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.