27A-10-19. Twenty-four hour hold of severely mentally ill person permitted--Notice to county board.
If any person presents to a facility licensed by the state as a hospital, other than the Human Services Center, and after an examination by a qualified mental health professional it is determined that the person is severely mentally ill and in such condition that immediate intervention is necessary to protect the person from physical harm to self or others, the qualified mental health professional may initiate a twenty-four hour hold on the person and retain the person at the hospital for purposes of observation and emergency treatment. The hospital or the qualified mental health professional shall notify the chair of the county board of mental illness of the twenty-four hour hold. The qualified mental health professional shall petition for commitment of the person according to §§27A-10-1 and 27A-10-4. The person shall be afforded rights according to §27A-10-5. If a petition for emergency commitment pursuant to §27A-10-1 is not filed within twenty-four hours, the person shall be released.
Source: SL 1999, ch 139, §1.