(1) Emergency procedure may be invoked under one of the following conditions:
(a) (I) When any person appears to have a mental health disorder and, as a result of such mental health disorder, appears to be an imminent danger to others or to himself or herself or appears to be gravely disabled, then an intervening professional, as specified in subsection (1)(a)(II) of this section, upon probable cause and with such assistance as may be required, may take the person into custody, or cause the person to be taken into custody, and placed in a facility designated or approved by the executive director for a seventy-two-hour treatment and evaluation. If such a facility is not available, the person may be taken to an emergency medical services facility.
(I.5) When any person appears to have a mental health disorder and, as a result of such mental health disorder, is in need of immediate evaluation for treatment in order to prevent physical or psychiatric harm to others or to himself or herself, then an intervening professional, as specified in subsection (1)(a)(II) of this section, upon probable cause and with such assistance as may be required, may immediately transport the person to an outpatient mental health facility or other clinically appropriate facility designated or approved by the executive director. If such a facility is not available, the person may be taken to an emergency medical services facility.
(II) The following persons may act as intervening professionals to effect a seventy-twohour hold, as provided in subsections (1)(a)(I) and (1)(a)(I.5) of this section:
A certified peace officer;
A professional person;
A registered professional nurse as defined in section 12-255-104 (11) who by reasonof postgraduate education and additional nursing preparation has gained knowledge, judgment, and skill in psychiatric or mental health nursing;
A licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed professional counselor, or addiction counselor licensed under part 5, 6, or 8 of article 245 of title 12 who, by reason of postgraduate education and additional preparation, has gained knowledge, judgment, and skill in psychiatric or clinical mental health therapy, forensic psychotherapy, or the evaluation of mental health disorders; or
A licensed clinical social worker licensed under the provisions of part 4 of article245 of title 12.
Upon an affidavit sworn to or affirmed before a judge that relates sufficient facts toestablish that a person appears to have a mental health disorder and, as a result of the mental health disorder, appears to be an imminent danger to others or to himself or herself or appears to be gravely disabled, the court may order the person described in the affidavit to be taken into custody and placed in a facility designated or approved by the executive director for a seventytwo-hour treatment and evaluation. Whenever in this article 65 a facility is to be designated or approved by the executive director, hospitals, if available, must be approved or designated in each county before other facilities are approved or designated. Whenever in this article 65 a facility is to be designated or approved by the executive director as a facility for a stated purpose and the facility to be designated or approved is a private facility, the consent of the private facility to the enforcement of standards set by the executive director is a prerequisite to the designation or approval.
Upon an affidavit sworn to or affirmed before a judge that relates sufficient facts toestablish that a person appears to have a mental health disorder and, as a result of the mental health disorder, is in need of immediate evaluation for treatment to prevent physical or psychiatric harm to others or to himself or herself, the court may order the person described in the affidavit to be transported to an outpatient mental health facility or other clinically appropriate facility designated or approved by the executive director.
When a person is taken into custody pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, he orshe must not be detained in a jail, lockup, or other place used for the confinement of persons charged with or convicted of penal offenses.
When a person is taken into emergency custody by an intervening professional pursuant to subsection (1) of this section and is presented to an emergency medical services facility or a facility that is designated or approved by the executive director, the facility shall require an application in writing, stating the circumstances under which the person's condition was called to the attention of the intervening professional and further stating sufficient facts, obtained from the intervening professional's personal observations or obtained from others whom he or she reasonably believes to be reliable, to establish that the person has a mental health disorder and, as a result of the mental health disorder, is an imminent danger to others or to himself or herself, is gravely disabled, or is in need of immediate evaluation for treatment. The application must indicate when the person was taken into custody and who brought the person's condition to the attention of the intervening professional. A copy of the application must be furnished to the person being evaluated, and the application must be retained in accordance with the provisions of section 27-65-121 (4).
If the seventy-two-hour treatment and evaluation facility admits the person, it maydetain him or her for evaluation and treatment for a period not to exceed seventy-two hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays if evaluation and treatment services are not available on those days. For the purposes of this subsection (4), evaluation and treatment services are not deemed to be available merely because a professional person is on call during weekends or holidays. If, in the opinion of the professional person in charge of the evaluation, the person can be properly cared for without being detained, he or she shall be provided services on a voluntary basis.
Each person admitted to a seventy-two-hour treatment and evaluation facility underthe provisions of this article shall receive an evaluation as soon as possible after he or she is admitted and shall receive such treatment and care as his or her condition requires for the full period that he or she is held. The person shall be released before seventy-two hours have elapsed if, in the opinion of the professional person in charge of the evaluation, the person no longer requires evaluation or treatment. Persons who have been detained for seventy-two-hour evaluation and treatment shall be released, referred for further care and treatment on a voluntary basis, or certified for treatment pursuant to section 27-65-107.
At any time during emergency custody of an individual pursuant to this section ineither an emergency medical services facility or a designated facility, if, in the opinion of a professional person, or an advanced practice nurse licensed pursuant to part 1 of article 255 of title 12 and included in the advanced practice registry pursuant to section 12-255-111 with a population focus in psychiatry or mental health, acting within his or her scope of practice, the person no longer meets the standards for emergency custody or detention and his or her care can be provided in another setting, the person must be appropriately discharged or referred for further care and treatment on a voluntary basis, or certified for treatment pursuant to section 2765-107.
(a) On or before July 1, 2019, and each July 1 thereafter, each emergency medical services facility that has treated a person pursuant to this section shall provide an annual report to the department that includes only aggregate and nonidentifying information concerning persons who were treated at an emergency medical services facility pursuant to this section. The report must comply with the provisions of section 24-1-136 (9) and is exempt from the provisions of section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I). The report must contain the following:
The names and counties of the facilities;
The total number of persons treated pursuant to this section, including a summary ofdemographic information;
A summary regarding the different reasons for which persons were treated pursuantto this section; and
A summary of the disposition of persons transferred to a designated facility.
(b) (I) Any information aggregated and provided to the department pursuant to this subsection (7) is privileged and confidential. Such information must not be made available to the public except in an aggregate format that cannot be used to identify an individual facility. The information is not subject to civil subpoena and is not discoverable or admissible in any civil, criminal, or administrative proceeding against an emergency medical services facility or health care professional. The information must be used only to assess statewide behavioral health services needs and to plan for sufficient levels of statewide behavioral health services. In the collection of data to accomplish the requirements of this subsection (7), the department shall protect the confidentiality of patient records, in accordance with state and federal laws, and shall not disclose any public identifying or proprietary information of any hospital, hospital administrator, health care professional, or employee of a health care facility.
(II) Subsection (7)(b)(I) of this section does not apply to information that is otherwise available from a source outside of the data collection activities required pursuant to subsection (7)(a) of this section.
Source: L. 2010: Entire article added with relocations, (SB 10-175), ch. 188, p. 682, § 2, effective April 29. L. 2011: (1)(a)(II)(D) amended, (SB 11-187), ch. 285, p. 1329, § 75, effective July 1. L. 2017: (1)(a)(I), IP(1)(a)(II), (1)(b), and (3) amended, (SB 17-242), ch. 263, p. 1341, § 235, effective May 25; (1), (2), and (3) amended and (6) and (7) added, (SB 17-207), ch. 205, p. 766, § 7, effective May 1, 2018. L. 2019: (1)(a)(II)(C), (1)(a)(II)(D), (1)(a)(II)(E), and (6) amended, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 1713, § 199, effective October 1. L. 2020: (6) amended, (HB 20-1183), ch. 157, p. 705, § 66, effective July 1.
Editor's note: (1) This section is similar to former § 27-10-105 as it existed prior to 2010.
(2) Amendments to subsections (1) and (3) by SB 17-242 and SB 17-207 were harmonized.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration in SB 17-242, see section 1 of chapter 263, Session Laws of Colorado 2017. For the legislative declaration in SB 17-207, see section 1 of chapter 205, Session Laws of Colorado 2017.