(A) The director of mental health and addiction services is the chief executive and appointing authority of the department of mental health and addiction services. The director may organize the department for its efficient operation, including creating divisions or offices as necessary. The director may establish procedures for the governance of the department, conduct of its employees and officers, performance of its business, and custody, use, and preservation of departmental records, papers, books, documents, and property. Whenever the Revised Code imposes a duty upon or requires an action of the department or any of its institutions, the director or the director’s designee shall perform the action or duty in the name of the department, except that the medical director appointed pursuant to section 5119.11 of the Revised Code shall be responsible for decisions relating to medical diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, quality assurance, and the clinical aspects of the following: licensure of hospitals and residential facilities, research, community addiction and mental health plans, and certification and delivery of addiction services and mental health services.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(B) The director shall:

(1) Adopt rules for the proper execution of the powers and duties of the department with respect to the institutions under its control, and require the performance of additional duties by the officers of the institutions as necessary to fully meet the requirements, intents, and purposes of this chapter. In case of an apparent conflict between the powers conferred upon any managing officer and those conferred by such sections upon the department, the presumption shall be conclusive in favor of the department.

(2) Adopt rules for the nonpartisan management of the institutions under the department’s control. An officer or employee of the department or any officer or employee of any institution under its control who, by solicitation or otherwise, exerts influence directly or indirectly to induce any other officer or employee of the department or any of its institutions to adopt the exerting officer’s or employee’s political views or to favor any particular person, issue, or candidate for office shall be removed from the exerting officer’s or employee’s office or position, by the department in case of an officer or employee, and by the governor in case of the director.

(3) Appoint such employees, including the medical director, as are necessary for the efficient conduct of the department, and prescribe their titles and duties;

(4) Prescribe the forms of affidavits, applications, medical certificates, orders of hospitalization and release, and all other forms, reports, and records that are required in the hospitalization or admission and release of all persons to the institutions under the control of the department, or are otherwise required under this chapter or Chapter 5122 of the Revised Code;

(5) Exercise the powers and perform the duties relating to addiction and mental health facilities, addiction services, mental health services, and recovery supports that are assigned to the director under this chapter and Chapter 340 of the Revised Code;

(6) Develop and implement clinical evaluation and monitoring of services that are operated by the department;

(7) Adopt rules establishing standards for the performance of evaluations by a forensic center or other psychiatric program or facility of the mental condition of defendants ordered by the court under section 2919.271, or 2945.371 of the Revised Code, and for the treatment of defendants who have been found incompetent to stand trial and ordered by the court under section 2945.38, 2945.39, 2945.401, or 2945.402 of the Revised Code to receive treatment in facilities;

(8) On behalf of the department, have the authority and responsibility for entering into contracts and other agreements with providers, agencies, institutions, and other entities, both public and private, as necessary for the department to carry out its duties under this chapter and Chapters 340., 2919., 2945., and 5122. of the Revised Code. Chapter 125 of the Revised Code does not apply to contracts the director enters into under this section for addiction services, mental health services, or recovery supports provided to individuals who have an addiction or mental illness by providers, agencies, institutions, and other entities not owned or operated by the department.

(9) Adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119 of the Revised Code specifying the supplemental services that may be provided through a trust authorized by section 5815.28 of the Revised Code;

(10) Adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119 of the Revised Code establishing standards for the maintenance and distribution to a beneficiary of assets of a trust authorized by section 5815.28 of the Revised Code.

(C) The director may contract with hospitals licensed by the department under section 5119.33 of the Revised Code for the care and treatment of patients with mental illnesses, or with persons, organizations, or agencies for the custody, evaluation, supervision, care, or treatment of persons with mental illnesses receiving services elsewhere than within the enclosure of a hospital operated under section 5119.14 of the Revised Code.