Disposition of Patient Upon Hearing

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Mental Health
  4. Examination, Treatment, etc., for Mental Illness
  5. Examination, Hospitalization, and Treatment of Involuntary Patients
  6. Determination of Need for Treatment, Admission to Treatment Facilities
  7. Disposition of Patient Upon Hearing

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  1. At those hearings required under subsection (c) of Code Section 37-3-81 and subsection (a) of Code Section 37-3-92, the court shall determine whether the patient is a mentally ill person requiring involuntary treatment and, if so, whether the patient is an inpatient or outpatient and, unless otherwise provided in this subsection, the type of involuntary treatment the patient should be ordered to obtain. At such hearing, if the court determines:
    1. That the patient is not a mentally ill person requiring involuntary treatment, the court shall order that the patient be immediately discharged;
    2. That the patient is an outpatient, the court shall further determine, based upon either the individualized service plan required to be prepared under subsection (c) of Code Section 37-3-64 or subsection (b) of Code Section 37-3-91 or the individualized service plan proposed by the physician or psychologist chosen by the patient, whether there is available outpatient treatment for the patient which meets the requirements of the plan chosen by the court and whether the patient will likely obtain that treatment so as to minimize the likelihood of the patient's becoming an inpatient. If the court determines that there is such available outpatient treatment which the patient will likely obtain so as to minimize the likelihood of the patient's becoming an inpatient, then the court shall order the patient to obtain that treatment and shall discharge the patient subject to such order;
    3. That the patient is an outpatient who does not meet the requirements for discharge under paragraph (2) of this subsection and:
      1. The patient has been admitted to either an evaluating or treatment facility and there received an evaluation within 45 days prior to the date of the hearing under this Code section, the court shall order that the patient be discharged; or
      2. The patient has not been admitted to either an evaluating or treatment facility and there received an evaluation within 45 days prior to the date of the hearing under this Code section, the court shall order that the patient be admitted to an evaluating facility, and this chapter shall thereafter apply to that patient as though that patient had been ordered by a court to be admitted to that facility pursuant to Code Section 37-3-62; or
    4. That the patient is an inpatient, the court shall order that the patient shall be transported to a treatment facility where the patient shall be admitted for care and treatment, which order may also require that a period of such inpatient treatment be followed by available outpatient treatment if there is such outpatient treatment which will meet the requirements of the patient's individualized service plan and the patient will likely obtain the treatment so as to minimize the likelihood of the patient's becoming an inpatient.
  2. If the court at a hearing under subsection (a) of this Code section concludes that the patient is a mentally ill person requiring involuntary treatment, it shall make findings of fact and conclusions of law in support of that conclusion as part of its final order.
  3. The court may order the hospitalization of any patient pursuant to paragraph (4) of subsection (a) of this Code section for any period not to exceed six months, subject to the power of the chief medical officer to discharge the patient under subsection (b) of Code Section 37-3-85. If continued hospitalization is necessary at the end of that period, the chief medical officer shall apply for an order authorizing such continued hospitalization under Code Section 37-3-83.
  4. The court may order the patient to obtain available outpatient treatment under the additional conditions specified in Code Sections 37-3-93 and 37-3-94.

(Code 1981, §37-3-81.1, enacted by Ga. L. 1986, p. 1098, § 4; Ga. L. 1987, p. 3, § 37; Ga. L. 1987, p. 797, § 1; Ga. L. 1991, p. 1059, § 15.)

Code Commission notes.

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1986, "Sections" was substituted for "Section" in subsection (d).

Pursuant to Code Section28-9-3, in 1987, the amendment of subparagraph (a)(3)(A) of this Code section by Ga. L. 1987, p. 3, § 27, was treated as impliedly repealed and superseded by Ga. L. 1987, p. 797, § 5, due to irreconcilable conflict. See County of Butts v. Strahan, 151 Ga. 417 (1921); Keener v. McDougall, 232 Ga. 273 (1974).

Law reviews.

- For comment, "1986 Amendments to Georgia's Mental Health Statutes: The Latest Attempt to Provide a Solution to the Problem of the Chronically Mentally Ill," see 36 Emory L.J. 1313 (1987).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Mental health facility has no right to detain patient pending appeal from discharge order.

- Mental health facility did not have the right to appeal from an adverse involuntary commitment decision and the facility did not have statutory authority, nor would it have been constitutional, to detain the patient pending appeal of a probate court order of discharge. Georgia Mental Health Inst. v. Brady, 263 Ga. 591, 436 S.E.2d 219 (1993).

Cited in Bruscato v. Gwinnett-Rockdale-Newton Cmty. Serv. Bd., 290 Ga. App. 638, 660 S.E.2d 440 (2008); Crawford v. State, 355 Ga. App. 401, 844 S.E.2d 294 (2020).


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