(a) Within five days after a person is admitted to a designated hospital for emergency examination, he or she may request the Criminal Division of the Superior Court to conduct a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is probable cause to believe that he or she was a person in need of treatment at the time of his or her admission.

(b) The court shall conduct the hearing within three working days of the filing of the request. The court shall cause timely notice of the preliminary hearing to be given to the patient or his or her attorney, the hospital, and the attorney for the applicant.

(c) The individual has the right to be present and represented by legal counsel at the preliminary hearing.

(d) If probable cause to believe that the individual was a person in need of treatment at the time of his or her admission is established at the preliminary hearing, the individual shall be ordered held for further proceedings in accordance with the law. If probable cause is not established, the individual shall be ordered discharged from the hospital and the court shall order him or her returned to the place from which he or she was transported or to his or her home.

(e) Upon a showing of need, the court may grant a reasonable continuance to either the patient's attorney or the attorney for the State. (Added 1977, No. 252 (Adj. Sess.), § 17; amended 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 238.)