GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 1111

Short Title:  Emergency Commitment Change.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Representative Gardner.
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Referred to:  Courts and Justice.
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April 19, 1993

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO PROVIDE EMERGENCY COMMITMENT OF VIOLENT PERSONS SUFFERING FROM SUBSTANCE ABUSE UNDER THE SAME PROCEDURES AVAILABLE FOR VIOLENT PERSONS WHO ARE MENTALLY ILL.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 122C-282 reads as rewritten:
"§ 122C-282. Special emergency procedure for violent individuals.
Anyone, including a law enforcement officer, who has knowledge of an individual who is subject to inpatient commitment according to the criteria of G.S. 122C-281(a)	and who requires immediate hospitalization to prevent harm to self or others, may transport the individual directly to an area facility or other place, including a State facility for the mentally ill, as designated in accordance with G.S. 122C-252, for examination by a physician or eligible psychologist, in accordance with G.S. 122C-283(a).  If the individual meets the criteria required in G.S. 122C-281(a), the physician or eligible psychologist shall so certify in writing before any official authorized to administer oaths.  The certificate shall also state the reason that the individual requires immediate hospitalization.
If the physician or eligible psychologist executes the oath, appearance before a magistrate shall be waived.  The physician or eligible psychologist shall send a copy of the certificate to the clerk of superior court by the most reliable and expeditious means.  If it cannot reasonably be anticipated that the clerk will receive the copy within 24 hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, of the time that it was signed, the physician or eligible psychologist shall also communicate the finding to the clerk by telephone.
Anyone, including a law enforcement officer if necessary, may transport the individual to a 24-hour facility described in G.S. 122C-252 for examination and treatment pending a district court hearing.  If there is no area 24-hour facility and if the respondent is indigent and unable to pay for care at a private 24-hour facility, the law enforcement officer or other designated person providing transportation shall take the respondent to a State facility for the mentally ill, designated by the Commission in accordance with G.S. 143B-147(a)(1)a. and as described in G.S. 122C-252, and shall immediately notify the clerk of superior court of this action.  The physician's or eligible psychologist's certificate shall serve as the custody order and the law enforcement officer or other designated person shall provide transportation in accordance with the provisions of G.S. 122C-251.
Respondents received at a 24-hour facility under the provisions of this section shall be examined in accordance with G.S. 122C-285.  After receipt of notification that the district court has determined reasonable grounds for the commitment, further proceedings shall be carried out in the same way as for all other respondents under this Part."
Sec. 2.  This act becomes effective January 1, 1994, and applies to emergency commitments on and after that date.