Advocacy, Inc. - IR2 — Your Legal Rights Under Emergency Commitment

IR2 — Your Legal Rights Under Emergency Commitment

February, 1995

All people have certain basic legal rights, including people who have mental illness and people who are in mental health facilities. In some cases, these rights can be restricted by a judge or by your doctor. If you are placed in a mental health facility on an emergency commitment, this brochure contains information you need to know about your rights.

WHEN And WHY You May Be Committed Under Emergency Detention

You may be picked up and detained in two ways: either a judge can order a police officer to take you to a mental health facility, or a police officer can detain you and take you to an appropriate mental health facility without a judge's order or warrant. The decision to detain you on an emergency basis must be based on either personal observation or another person's observation of your recent behavior that makes them believe that you are mentally ill and that you pose a substantial and imminent threat to either your safety or someone else's safety. Examples of this kind of behavior include attempting suicide, striking another person, or a recent pattern of severe emotional distress.

WHERE You Must Be Taken

After the police have picked you up, they must take you immediately to the nearest appropriate mental health facility.

You may be placed in the nearest appropriate mental health facility unless there is none available. If there is none available, then you may be placed in an alternative approved facility.

Only in an extreme emergency can you be put in a jail, or any other nonmedical facility. If you are put there, you must be kept separate from people who have been charged or convicted of a crime.

AFTER You Have Been Taken To a Facility

You have the following rights after you have been taken to a facility for emergency commitment:

You must be examined by a doctor as soon as possible and, in any event, within 24 hours after you were picked up, regardless of what facility you are placed in.
You can only be admitted to the facility if the doctor who examines you determines that you are mentally ill and you pose a substantial and imminent threat to yourself or others and emergency detention is the least restrictive way to restrain you from harm.

UPON ADMISSION To The Mental Health Facility

Within 24 hours after you have been admitted to the mental health facility, you must be told, orally and in writing, in the language you understand best, or if you are hearing or visually impaired, in the way you communicate best, the following rights:

You must be told where you are and why you have been detained.
You must be told that this emergency detention could turn into a longer commitment if an involuntary commitment proceeding is begun. (See Advocacy, Incorporated's brochure, The Commitment Process Under The Texas Mental Health Code.)
You must be allowed to find an attorney of your choice and to talk with your attorney.
You must be told that anything you say or how you act while you are at the facility may be used by the judge in further proceedings, such as involuntary commitment, to decide if you need to stay in the facility, and how long you need to stay.
You must be allowed to leave the facility immediately unless the examining doctor finds that you are mentally ill and that you pose a substantial and imminent danger to yourself or others and that you cannot be treated in a less restrictive manner.
You must be told that you will not be allowed to leave the facility if the examining doctor decides that you are mentally ill and that you pose a substantial and imminent danger to yourself or others and that you cannot be treated in a less restrictive manner.
Whenever you are released from emergency commitment, the facility must arrange, at no charge to you, to take you back to where you were picked up, or to your home in Texas, or to another suitable place.

If you are a minor or if you have a guardian, information about these rights must be also given to your parent or guardian.

If You Think Your Rights May Have Been Violated

If you believe any of these rights may have been violated, you should first contact your treatment team at the facility where you are located. Additionally, you have the right to talk to any of the following:

the Consumer Rights Officer, located at all mental health facilities;
the TDMHMR Office of Consumer Services and Rights Protection;
the Public Responsibility Committee; and/or
Advocacy, Incorporated.

For further information, including a list of Public Responsibility Committees, see Advocacy Incorporated's brochure, How To Make A Complaint About Inpatient Mental Health Services. Advocacy, Inc. also has the following related brochures available:

For further information, please contact any Advocacy, Inc. office at the address and/or telephone number indicated on the front of this handout.

Advocacy, Incorporated's goal is to make each handout understandable by and useful to the general public. If you have suggestions on how this handout can be improved, please contact Advocacy, Inc. at the address and telephone number shown on Advocacy's home page or e-mail Advocacy, Inc. at infoai@advocacyinc.org. Thank you for your assistance. This handout is available in Braille and/or on audio tape upon request. Advocacy, Inc. strives to update its materials on an annual basis, and this handout is based upon the law at the time it was written. The law changes frequently and is subject to various interpretations by different courts. Future changes in the law may make some information in this handout inaccurate. The handout is not intended to and does not replace an attorney's advice or assistance based on your particular situation.