A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to make modifications to the laws related to involuntary commitments in order to give Local Management entities more control over state psychiatric hospital utilization.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 122C‑263(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Without unnecessary delay after assuming custody, the law enforcement officer or the individual designated by the clerk or magistrate under G.S. 122C‑251(g) to provide transportation shall take the respondent to an area facility for examination by a physician or eligible psychologist. If a physician or eligible psychologist is not available in the area facility, the person designated to provide transportation shall take the respondent to any physician or eligible psychologist locally available. If a physician or eligible psychologist is not immediately available, the respondent may be temporarily detained in an area facility. If an area facility is not available, the respondent may be detained under appropriate supervision in the respondent's home, in a private hospital or a clinic, in a general hospital, or in a State facility for the mentally ill. In no event may a respondent be detained in a jail or other penal facility."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.