§ 7505. Warrant and certificate for emergency examination

(a) In emergency circumstances where certification by a licensed physician is not available without serious and unreasonable delay, and when personal observation of the conduct of a person constitutes reasonable grounds to believe that the person is a person in need of treatment, and the person presents an immediate risk of serious injury to self or others if not restrained, a law enforcement officer or mental health professional may make an application, not accompanied by a physician’s certificate, to any Superior judge for a warrant for an emergency examination. The application shall be based on facts personally observed by the mental health professional or the law enforcement officer or shall be supported by a statement of facts under penalty of perjury by a person who personally observed the facts that form the basis of the application.

(b)(1) The law enforcement officer may take the person into temporary custody if the law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that the person poses a risk of harm to self or others. The law enforcement officer or a mental health professional shall apply to the court for the warrant without delay while the person is in temporary custody. The law enforcement officer, or a mental health professional if clinically appropriate, may then transport the person if the law enforcement officer or mental health professional conducting the transport has probable cause to believe that the person poses a risk of harm to self or others.

(2) Transports conducted pursuant to this subsection shall provide individuals with the same protections as provided to individuals in the custody of the Commissioner who are transported pursuant to section 7511 of this title.

(c) If the judge is satisfied that a physician’s certificate is not available without serious and unreasonable delay, and that probable cause exists to believe that the person is in need of an emergency examination, the judge may order the person to submit to an evaluation by a licensed physician for that purpose.

(d)(1) If necessary, the court may order the law enforcement officer to transport the person to a hospital for an evaluation by a licensed physician to determine if the person should be certified for an emergency examination.

(2) Transports conducted pursuant to this subsection shall provide individuals with the same protections as provided to individuals in the custody of the Commissioner who are transported pursuant to section 7511 of this title.

(e) Authority to transport a person pursuant to this section shall expire if the person is not taken into custody and transported within 72 hours after a warrant is issued by a Superior judge.

(f) A person transported pursuant to subsection (d) of this section shall be evaluated as soon as possible after arrival at the hospital. If after evaluation the licensed physician determines that the person is a person in need of treatment, the licensed physician shall issue an initial certificate that sets forth the facts and circumstances constituting the need for an emergency examination and showing that the person is a person in need of treatment. Once the licensed physician has issued the initial certificate, the person shall be held for an emergency examination in accordance with section 7508 of this title. If the licensed physician does not certify that the person is a person in need of treatment, the licensed physician shall immediately discharge the person and cause the person to be returned to the place from which the person was taken, or to such place as the person reasonably directs. (Added 1967, No. 305 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1968; amended 1977, No. 252 (Adj. Sess.), § 8; 2013, No. 192 (Adj. Sess.), § 6, eff. Nov. 1, 2014; 2023, No. 25, § 1, eff. July 1, 2023.)