Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:56 – Judicial commitment; review; appeals
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:56
- administrator: means a person in charge of a treatment facility or his deputy. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
- Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
- Conditional discharge: means the physical release of a judicially committed person from a treatment facility by the director or administrator or by the court. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
- Dangerous to self: means the condition of a person whose behavior, significant threats or inaction supports a reasonable expectation that there is a substantial risk that he will inflict physical or sever emotional harm upon his own person. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
- Department: means the Louisiana Department of Health. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
- Discharge: means the full or conditional release from a treatment facility of any person admitted or otherwise detained under this Chapter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Gravely disabled: means the condition of a person who is unable to provide for his own basic physical needs, such as essential food, clothing, medical care, or shelter, as a result of serious mental illness or a substance-related or addictive disorder and is unable to survive safely in freedom or protect himself from serious physical harm or significant psychiatric deterioration. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
- Habeas corpus: A writ that is usually used to bring a prisoner before the court to determine the legality of his imprisonment. It may also be used to bring a person in custody before the court to give testimony, or to be prosecuted.
- In forma pauperis: In the manner of a pauper. Permission given to a person to sue without payment of court fees on claim of indigence or poverty.
- Mental health advocacy service: means a service established by the state of Louisiana for the purpose of providing legal counsel and representation for persons with mental illness or substance-related or addictive disorders and for ensuring that the legal rights of those persons are protected. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
- Patient: means any person detained and taken care of as a person who has a mental illness or person who is suffering from a substance-related or addictive disorder. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
- person: includes a body of persons, whether incorporated or not. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 1:10
- Petition: means a written civil complaint filed by a person of legal age alleging that a person has a mental illness or is suffering from a substance-related or addictive disorder and requires judicial commitment to a treatment facility. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
- Physician: means an individual licensed to practice medicine by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners in active practice or an individual in a post-graduate medical training program of an accredited medical school in Louisiana or a medical officer similarly qualified by the government of the United States while in the state in the performance of his official duties. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
- Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
- Respondent: means a person alleged to have a mental illness or be suffering from a substance-related or addictive disorder and for whom an application for commitment to a treatment facility has been filed. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
- Treatment: means an active effort to accomplish an improvement in the mental condition or behavior of a patient or to prevent deterioration in his condition or behavior. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
- Treatment facility: includes but is not limited to the following, and shall be selected with consideration of first, medical suitability; second, least restriction of the person's liberty; third, nearness to the patient's usual residence; fourth, financial or other status of the patient; and fifth, patient's expressed preference, except that such considerations shall not apply to forensic facilities:
(i) Public and private behavioral health services providers licensed pursuant to Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
A.(1)(a) Except as provided in Subparagraph (b) of this Paragraph, all judicial commitments except those for alcohol use disorder shall be for a period not to exceed one hundred eighty days. The period of commitment shall expire at the end of the judicial commitment period, and the patient, if not converted to a voluntary status, shall be discharged unless a petition for judicial commitment has been filed prior to the expiration of the commitment period. If the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the patient is dangerous to self or others or is gravely disabled as a result of mental illness, it shall render a judgment for his commitment for an additional period. Except as provided in Subparagraph (b) of this Paragraph, each additional judicial commitment shall expire at the end of one hundred eighty days.
(b) If a person has been judicially committed for four consecutive one-hundred-eighty-day periods pursuant to the provisions of Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph and during this time has not been conditionally discharged, the period of a subsequent judicial commitment may exceed one hundred eighty days but shall not exceed one year.
(2)(a) The hearing on the petition shall be conducted according to the procedures and standards set forth in La. Rev. Stat. 28:54 and 55, and this Section. The hearing may be held by the district court for the judicial district in which the patient is being confined, or if not confined, by the district court for the judicial district where he resides or may be found. The hearing shall not be transferred to another district except for good cause shown.
(b) All judicial commitments shall be reviewed by the court issuing the order for commitment every ninety days, except those for alcohol use disorder and except those individuals committed pursuant to Code of Criminal Procedure Article 648(B) whose cases shall continue to be reviewed annually. The director or administrator of the treatment facility to which the person has been judicially committed shall issue reports to the court and to counsel of record at these intervals setting forth the patient’s response to treatment, his current condition, and the reasons why continued involuntary treatment is necessary to improve the patient’s condition or to prevent it from deteriorating. These reports shall be treated by the court as confidential and shall not be available for public examination, nor shall they be subject to discovery in any proceedings other than those initiated pursuant to this Title.
(3) The court may at any time, upon application or upon its own motion, order a new hearing to be held in order to determine whether the involuntary status should be continued.
B. A commitment for alcohol use disorder shall expire after forty-five days and the patient, if not converted to a voluntary status, shall be discharged, unless the court, upon application by the director or administrator of the treatment facility, finds that continued involuntary treatment is necessary and orders the patient recommitted for a period not to exceed sixty days; however, not more than two such sixty-day recommitments may be ordered in connection with the same continuous confinement.
C. Notwithstanding an order of judicial commitment, the director or administrator of the treatment facility to which the individual is committed is encouraged to explore treatment measures that are medically appropriate and less restrictive. The involuntary commitment may be converted to a voluntary one in accordance with La. Rev. Stat. 28:52 or 52.2. The director or administrator of the treatment facility shall inform the court of any action in that regard. The director or administrator may discharge any patient if in his opinion, or upon recommendation of the treating physician, discharge is appropriate. The director or administrator shall not be legally responsible to any person for the subsequent acts or behavior of a patient discharged in good faith.
D. A person who is judicially committed shall be allowed to appeal devolutively from the order to the court of appeal. If the lower court finds the individual indigent, it shall allow the appeal to be taken in forma pauperis. Upon perfection of an appeal, it shall be heard in a summary manner, taking preference over all other cases except similar matters.
E. Upon affirmation of the order of commitment, the individual may apply for appropriate writs from the supreme court which shall be heard in a summary manner.
F. Nothing in this Title shall deny the right of habeas corpus, including an application based upon a change of circumstances.
G.(1) A person who is judicially committed may be conditionally discharged for a period of up to one hundred twenty days by the director or administrator or by the court. The patient may be required to report for outpatient treatment as a condition of his release. The terms and conditions of the conditional discharge shall be specifically set forth in writing and signed by the patient. A copy of the conditional discharge shall be given to the patient and explained to him before he is discharged.
(2) If the patient is conditionally discharged by the director or administrator, a copy of the conditional discharge shall be sent to the court which judicially committed him. If the patient is conditionally discharged by the court, a copy of the conditional discharge shall be sent to the facility to which the patient has been committed.
(3) If a patient does not comply with the terms and conditions of his conditional discharge, he is subject to any of the procedures for involuntary treatment, including but not limited to the issuance of an order for custody and the execution of an emergency certificate. A conditionally discharged patient who is confined pursuant to any of these involuntary procedures shall have all rights of an involuntary patient, including the right to demand a probable cause hearing, the right to periodic reports and review, and a hearing pursuant to Subsections A and B of this Section.
(4) An extension of a conditional discharge may be granted upon application by the department or by the director or administrator of the treatment facility to the court and notification to respondent‘s counsel of record. The court may grant the extension of the conditional discharge for a period of up to one hundred twenty days. No further extension may be made without a contradictory hearing. The burden of proof is on the department or the director or administrator of the treatment facility to show why continuation of the conditional discharge is necessary.
H. All patients presently unrepresented by privately retained counsel and who are the subject of involuntary commitment under any prior statute shall have their cases reviewed by attorneys provided by the mental health advocacy service within one year from the effective date of this Section, or be discharged or be committed again according to the provisions of this Chapter.
I. All judicial commitments involving a patient who has been found not guilty by reason of insanity or who has been found to lack the capacity to proceed, shall be reviewed in the manner as set forth in La. Rev. Stat. 15:211.
Amended by Acts 1972, No. 154, §1; Acts 1977, No. 714, §1; Acts 1978, No. 782, §1, eff. July 17, 1978; Acts 1979, No. 560, §1, eff. July 18, 1979; Acts 1979, No. 767, §1; Acts 1983, No. 516, §1; Acts 1984, No. 143, §1; Acts 1987, No. 928, §2, eff. July 20, 1987; Acts 1997, No. 985, §1; Acts 2017, No. 369, §2; Acts 2017, No. 370, §1, eff. June 23, 2017.