(1) If a person detained for seventy-two hours pursuant to the provisions of section 27-65-105 or a respondent under court order for evaluation pursuant to section 27-65-106 has received an evaluation, he or she may be certified for not more than three months of short-term treatment under the following conditions:
The professional staff of the agency or facility providing seventy-two-hour treatmentand evaluation has analyzed the person's condition and has found the person has a mental health disorder and, as a result of the mental health disorder, is a danger to others or to himself or herself or is gravely disabled.
The person has been advised of the availability of, but has not accepted, voluntarytreatment; but, if reasonable grounds exist to believe that the person will not remain in a voluntary treatment program, his or her acceptance of voluntary treatment shall not preclude certification.
The facility which will provide short-term treatment has been designated or approvedby the executive director to provide such treatment.
The notice of certification must be signed by a professional person on the staff of theevaluation facility who participated in the evaluation and must state facts sufficient to establish reasonable grounds to believe that the person has a mental health disorder and, as a result of the mental health disorder, is a danger to others or to himself or herself or is gravely disabled. The certification must be filed with the court within forty-eight hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and court holidays, of the date of certification. The certification must be filed with the court in the county in which the respondent resided or was physically present immediately prior to being taken into custody.
Within twenty-four hours of certification, copies of the certification shall be personally delivered to the respondent, and a copy shall be kept by the evaluation facility as part of the person's record. The respondent shall also be asked to designate one other person whom he or she wishes informed regarding certification. If he or she is incapable of making such a designation at the time the certification is delivered, he or she shall be asked to designate such person as soon as he or she is capable. In addition to the copy of the certification, the respondent shall be given a written notice that a hearing upon his or her certification for short-term treatment may be had before the court or a jury upon written request directed to the court pursuant to subsection (6) of this section.
Upon certification of the respondent, the facility designated for short-term treatmentshall have custody of the respondent.
Whenever a certification is filed with the court, the court, if it has not already doneso under section 27-65-106 (10), shall forthwith appoint an attorney to represent the respondent. The court shall determine whether the respondent is able to afford an attorney. If the respondent cannot afford counsel, the court shall appoint either counsel from the legal services program operating in that jurisdiction or private counsel to represent the respondent. The attorney representing the respondent shall be provided with a copy of the certification immediately upon his or her appointment. Waiver of counsel must be knowingly and intelligently made in writing and filed with the court by the respondent. In the event that a respondent who is able to afford an attorney fails to pay the appointed counsel, such counsel, upon application to the court and after appropriate notice and hearing, may obtain a judgment for reasonable attorney fees against the respondent or person making request for such counsel or both the respondent and such person.
The respondent for short-term treatment or his or her attorney may at any time file awritten request that the certification for short-term treatment or the treatment be reviewed by the court or that the treatment be on an outpatient basis. If review is requested, the court shall hear the matter within ten days after the request, and the court shall give notice to the respondent and his or her attorney and the certifying and treating professional person of the time and place thereof. The hearing shall be held in accordance with section 27-65-111. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court may enter or confirm the certification for short-term treatment, discharge the respondent, or enter any other appropriate order, subject to available appropriations.
Records and papers in proceedings under this section and section 27-65-108 shall bemaintained separately by the clerks of the several courts. Upon the release of any respondent in accordance with the provisions of section 27-65-110, the facility shall notify the clerk of the court within five days of the release, and the clerk shall forthwith seal the record in the case and omit the name of the respondent from the index of cases in such court until and unless the respondent becomes subject to an order of long-term care and treatment pursuant to section 2765-109 or until and unless the court orders them opened for good cause shown. In the event a petition is filed pursuant to section 27-65-109, such certification record may be opened and become a part of the record in the long-term care and treatment case and the name of the respondent indexed.
Whenever it appears to the court, by reason of a report by the treating professionalperson or any other report satisfactory to the court, that a respondent detained for evaluation and treatment or certified for treatment should be transferred to another facility for treatment and the safety of the respondent or the public requires that the respondent be transported by a sheriff, the court may issue an order directing the sheriff or his or her designee to deliver the respondent to the designated facility.
Source: L. 2010: Entire article added with relocations, (SB 10-175), ch. 188, p. 686, § 2, effective April 29. L. 2017: IP(1), (1)(a), and (2) amended, (SB 17-242), ch. 263, p. 1343, § 237, effective May 25.
Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 27-10-107 as it existed prior to 2010.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration in SB 17-242, see section 1 of chapter 263, Session Laws of Colorado 2017.