Bill Text: TX HB2506 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to procedures applicable to the emergency detention of a person with mental illness at a mental health facility, including the detention, transportation, and transfer of the person and to certain best practices for courts with jurisdiction over emergency mental health matters.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-05-10 - Committee report sent to Calendars [HB2506 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB2506-Comm_Sub.html

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88R14766 EAS-F
By: Jetton H.B. No. 2506
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 2506:
By: Klick C.S.H.B. No. 2506

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to procedures applicable to the emergency detention of a
person with mental illness at a mental health facility, including
the detention, transportation, and transfer of the person and to
certain best practices for courts with jurisdiction over emergency
mental health matters.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 571.003(9) and (12), Health and Safety
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(9) "Inpatient mental health facility" means a mental
health facility that can provide 24-hour residential and
psychiatric services and that is:
(A) a facility operated by the department;
(B) a private mental hospital licensed by the
department;
(C) a community center, facility operated by or
under contract with a community center or other entity the
department designates to provide mental health services;
(D) a local mental health authority or a facility
operated by or under contract with a local mental health authority;
(E) a mental health or psychiatric unit of [an
identifiable part of] a general hospital in which diagnosis,
treatment, and care for persons with mental illness is provided and
that is licensed by the department; or
(F) a hospital operated by a federal agency.
(12) "Mental health facility" means:
(A) an inpatient or outpatient mental health
facility operated by the department, a federal agency, a political
subdivision, or any person;
(B) a community center or a facility operated by
a community center;
(C) a mental health or psychiatric unit [that
identifiable part] of a general hospital in which diagnosis,
treatment, and care for persons with mental illness is provided; or
(D) with respect to a reciprocal agreement
entered into under Section 571.0081, any hospital or facility
designated as a place of commitment by the department, a local
mental health authority, and the contracting state or local
authority.
SECTION 2. Section 573.001, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (d) and (g) and adding Subsection
(d-1) to read as follows:
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (d-1), a [A] peace
officer who takes a person into custody under Subsection (a) shall
immediately:
(1) transport the apprehended person to[:
[(A)] the nearest appropriate inpatient mental
health facility; or
[(B) a mental health facility deemed suitable by
the local mental health authority, if an appropriate inpatient
mental health facility is not available; or]
(2) transfer the apprehended person to emergency
medical services personnel of an emergency medical services
provider in accordance with a memorandum of understanding executed
under Section 573.005 for transport to a facility described by
Subdivision (1) [(1)(A) or (B)].
(d-1) Subsection (d) does not apply to a peace officer who
takes into custody under Subsection (a) a person who requires
stabilization due to an emergency medical condition.
(g) A peace officer who takes a person into custody under
Subsection (a) shall immediately inform the person orally in
simple, nontechnical terms:
(1) of the reason for the detention; [and]
(2) of the warning described by Section 2(a), Article
38.22, Code of Criminal Procedure; and
(3) that a staff member of the facility will inform the
person of the person's rights at [within 24 hours after] the time
the person is admitted to a facility and before questioning,
assessing, or examining the person, as provided by Section
573.025(b).
SECTION 3. Section 573.002, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) If a person who has been detained under Section 573.001
and transported to a facility under this section subsequently is
transported to a mental health facility as authorized by Section
573.022(d), a copy of the notification of detention form filed
under Subsection (a) must accompany the detained person to the
mental health facility.
SECTION 4. Section 573.012, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (j) to read as follows:
(j) A judge or magistrate is not prohibited from issuing a
warrant under this section for a person for whom a previous warrant
was issued under this section unless the person was detained
pursuant to the previously issued warrant for a preliminary
examination under Section 573.021 for a period that exceeded the
maximum custodial period permitted under that section.
SECTION 5. Subchapter B, Chapter 573, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 573.013 to read as follows:
Sec. 573.013. JUDICIAL BEST PRACTICES AND PROCEDURES. The
Office of Court Administration of the Texas Judicial System shall
develop and provide to each court in the state with jurisdiction to
hear emergency mental health matters under this chapter best
practices and procedures for ensuring that a judge or magistrate is
available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to respond to
applications for emergency detention under Section 573.012(h).
SECTION 6. Section 573.021, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a), (b), and (d) and adding
Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
(a) A mental health facility shall temporarily accept a
person for whom an application for detention is filed or for whom a
peace officer or emergency medical services personnel of an
emergency medical services provider transporting the person in
accordance with a memorandum of understanding executed under
Section 573.005 files a notification of detention completed by the
peace officer under Section 573.002(a).
(a-1) A general hospital may temporarily accept and detain a
person for whom a warrant under Section 573.012 is issued or for
whom a peace officer or emergency medical services personnel of an
emergency medical services provider transporting the person in
accordance with a memorandum of understanding executed under
Section 573.005 files a notification of detention completed by the
peace officer under Section 573.002(a).
(b) A person accepted for a preliminary examination may be
detained in custody for not longer than 48 hours after the time the
person is presented to the mental health facility unless a written
order for protective custody is obtained. The 48-hour period
allowed by this section includes any time the patient spends
waiting in the mental health facility for medical care before the
person receives the preliminary examination. If the 48-hour
period ends on a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or before 4 p.m.
on the first succeeding business day, the person may be detained
until 4 p.m. on the first succeeding business day. If the 48-hour
period ends at a different time, the person may be detained only
until 4 p.m. on the day the 48-hour period ends. If extremely
hazardous weather conditions exist or a disaster occurs, the
presiding judge or magistrate may, by written order made each day,
extend by an additional 24 hours the period during which the person
may be detained. The written order must declare that an emergency
exists because of the weather or the occurrence of a disaster.
(d) A mental health facility must comply with this section
only to the extent that the commissioner determines that a mental
health facility has sufficient resources to perform the necessary
services under this section.
SECTION 7. Section 573.022, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) A local mental health authority that determines a person
detained under Section 573.002 should be transported to an
appropriate mental health facility before the expiration of the
period for emergency detention described by Section 573.021(b) may
submit a request for a peace officer to provide transportation. On
a peace officer's receipt of notice of the request from the
officer's supervisor, the peace officer immediately shall
transport the detained person to the appropriate mental health
facility. A copy of the notification of emergency detention for the
detained person filed under Section 573.002(a) must accompany the
detained person to the receiving facility. The receiving facility
may not require any form other than the copy of the peace officer's
notification of detention as a predicate to accepting a person for
emergency detention.
SECTION 8. Section 573.025(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A person apprehended, detained, or transported for
emergency detention under this subtitle shall be informed of the
rights provided by this section and this subtitle:
(1) orally in simple, nontechnical terms, at [within
24 hours after] the time the person is admitted to a facility and
before the person is questioned, assessed, or examined, and in
writing in the person's primary language if possible; or
(2) through the use of a means reasonably calculated
to communicate with a hearing or visually impaired person, if
applicable.
SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act apply to an
emergency detention under Chapter 573, Health and Safety Code, that
begins on or after the effective date of this Act. An emergency
detention under Chapter 573, Health and Safety Code, that begins
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it
existed immediately before that date, and that law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 10. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the Office of Court Administration of the Texas
Judicial System shall develop the best practices and procedures as
required by Section 573.013, Health and Safety Code, as added by
this Act.
SECTION 11. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.