As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) “Cabinet” means the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services;
(2) “Commitment hearing” means the hearing under KRS § 202C.040 to determine if a respondent meets the criteria for involuntary commitment under this chapter;
(3) “Danger” means substantial physical harm or threat of substantial physical harm upon self or others;
(4) “Evidentiary hearing” means the hearing under KRS § 202C.030 to determine if the defendant committed the qualifying offense for which he or she was charged by a preponderance of the evidence;
(5) “Forensic psychiatric facility” means a mental institution or facility, or part thereof, designated by the secretary for the purpose and function of providing inpatient evaluation, care, and treatment for mentally ill persons or individuals with an intellectual disability who have been charged with or convicted of a felony;
(6) “Hospital” means:
(a) A state mental hospital or institution or other licensed public or private hospital, institution, health-care facility, or part thereof, approved by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services as equipped to provide full-time residential care and treatment for mentally ill persons or individuals with an intellectual disability; or
(b) A hospital, institution, or health-care facility of the government of the United States equipped to provide residential care and treatment for mentally ill persons or individuals with an intellectual disability;
(7) “Individual with an intellectual disability” means a person with significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period;
(8) “Judge” means the judge who found the respondent incompetent to stand trial in the criminal proceeding from which the petition for involuntary commitment arose;
(9) “Less restrictive alternative mode of treatment” means a treatment given outside of a forensic psychiatric facility which would provide a respondent with appropriate treatment or care consistent with accepted professional practice standards and protect the respondent’s safety and the safety of others;
(10) “Mentally ill person” means a person with substantially impaired capacity to use self-control, judgment, or discretion in the conduct of the person’s affairs and social relations, associated with maladaptive behavior or recognized emotional symptoms where impaired capacity, maladaptive behavior, or emotional symptoms can be related to physiological, psychological, or social factors;
(11) “Qualified mental health professional” means:
(a) A physician licensed under the laws of Kentucky to practice medicine or osteopathy, or a medical officer of the government of the United States while engaged in the performance of official duties;
(b) A psychiatrist licensed under the laws of Kentucky to practice medicine or
osteopathy, or a medical officer of the government of the United States while engaged in the practice of official duties, who is certified or eligible to apply for certification by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Inc.;
(c) A psychologist with the health service provider designation, a psychological practitioner, a certified psychologist, or a psychological associate, licensed under the provisions of KRS Chapter 319;
(d) A licensed registered nurse with a master’s degree in psychiatric nursing from an accredited institution and two (2) years of clinical experience with mentally ill persons, or a licensed registered nurse, with a bachelor’s degree in nursing from an accredited institution, who is certified as a psychiatric and mental health nurse by the American Nurses Association and who has three (3) years of inpatient or outpatient clinical experience in psychiatric nursing and is currently employed by a hospital or forensic psychiatric facility licensed by the Commonwealth or a psychiatric unit of a general hospital or a private agency or company engaged in the provision of mental health services or a regional community program for mental health and individuals with an intellectual disability;
(e) A licensed clinical social worker licensed under the provisions of KRS
335.100, or a certified social worker licensed under the provisions of KRS
335.080 with three (3) years of inpatient or outpatient clinical experience in psychiatric social work and currently employed by a hospital or forensic psychiatric facility licensed by the Commonwealth or a psychiatric unit of a general hospital or a private agency or company engaged in the provision of mental health services or a regional community program for mental health and individuals with an intellectual disability;
(f) A marriage and family therapist licensed under the provisions of KRS
335.300 to 335.399 with three (3) years of inpatient or outpatient clinical experience in psychiatric mental health practice and currently employed by a hospital or forensic facility licensed by the Commonwealth, a psychiatric unit of a general hospital, a private agency or company engaged in providing mental health services, or a regional community program for mental health and individuals with an intellectual disability;
(g) A professional counselor credentialed under the provisions of KRS Chapter 335.500 to 335.599 with three (3) years of inpatient or outpatient clinical experience in psychiatric mental health practice and currently employed by a hospital or forensic facility licensed by the Commonwealth, a psychiatric unit of a general hospital, a private agency or company engaged in providing mental health services, or a regional community program for mental health and individuals with an intellectual disability; or
(h) A physician assistant licensed under KRS § 311.840 to KRS § 311.862, who meets one (1) of the following requirements:
1. Provides documentation that he or she has completed a psychiatric residency program for physician assistants;
2. Has completed at least one thousand (1,000) hours of clinical experience under a supervising physician, as defined by KRS
311.840, who is a psychiatrist and is certified or eligible for
certification by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Inc.;
3. Holds a master’s degree from a physician assistant program accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant or its predecessor or successor agencies, is practicing under a supervising physician as defined by KRS § 311.840, and:
a. Has two (2) years of clinical experience in the assessment, evaluation, and treatment of mental disorders; or
b. Has been employed by a hospital or forensic psychiatric facility licensed by the Commonwealth or a psychiatric unit of a general hospital or a private agency or company engaged in the provision of mental health services or a regional community program for mental health and individuals with an intellectual disability for at least two (2) years; or
4. Holds a bachelor’s degree, possesses a current physician assistant certificate issued by the board prior to July 15, 2002, is practicing under a supervising physician as defined by KRS § 311.840, and:
a. Has three (3) years of clinical experience in the assessment, evaluation, and treatment of mental disorders; or
b. Has been employed by a hospital or forensic psychiatric facility licensed by the Commonwealth or a psychiatric unit of a general hospital or a private agency or company engaged in the provision of mental health services or a regional community program for mental health and individuals with an intellectual disability for at least three (3) years;
(12) “Qualifying offense” means a capital offense, a Class A felony, a Class B
felony resulting in death or serious physical injury, or a violation of KRS
510.040 or 510.070;
(13) “Respondent” means a person who was a criminal defendant found incompetent to stand trial who is or was the subject of a petition for involuntary commitment filed under KRS Chapter 504;
(14) “Review hearing” means any hearing conducted to determine if a respondent continues to meet the criteria for involuntary commitment after the initial order for involuntary commitment has been issued under this chapter; and
(15) “Secretary” means the secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
Effective:April 1, 2021
History: Created 2021 Ky. Acts ch. 175, sec. 6, effective April 1, 2021.