Connecticut General Statutes

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17a-540 (2026)

(Formerly Sec. 17-206a). Definitions

✓ current as of May 2026

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As used in sections 17a-540 to 17a-550, inclusive, unless otherwise expressly stated or unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) “Facility” means any inpatient or outpatient hospital, clinic or other facility for the diagnosis, observation or treatment of persons with psychiatric disabilities;

(2) “Patient” means any person being treated in a facility;

(3) “Persons with psychiatric disabilities” means those children and adults who are suffering from one or more mental disorders, as defined in the most recent edition of the American Psychiatric Association's “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders”;

(4) “Voluntary patient” means any patient sixteen years of age or older who applies in writing for and is admitted to a hospital for observation, diagnosis or treatment of a mental disorder or any patient under sixteen years of age whose parent or legal guardian applies in writing for such observation, diagnosis or treatment;

(5) “Involuntary patient” means any patient hospitalized pursuant to an order of a judge of the Probate Court after an appropriate hearing or a patient hospitalized for emergency diagnosis, observation or treatment upon certification of a qualified physician;

(6) “Family” means spouse or next of kin;

(7) “Head of the hospital” or “head of the facility” means the superintendent or medical director of a hospital or facility, or his designated delegate;

(8) “Informed consent” means permission given competently and voluntarily after a patient has been informed of the reason for treatment, the nature of the proposed treatment, the advantages or disadvantages of the treatment, medically acceptable alternative treatment, the risks associated with receiving the proposed treatment and the risk of no treatment;

(9) “Medically harmful” means capable of inflicting serious mental or physical injury on the patient, or producing in the patient a disturbed mental state or impaired judgment which may be grossly detrimental to his physical or mental well being;

(10) “Psychosurgery” means those operations defined as lobotomy, psychiatric surgery, behavioral surgery and all other forms of brain surgery, if the surgery is performed for the purpose of modification or control of thoughts, feelings, actions or behavior rather than the treatment of a known and diagnosed physical disease of the brain;

(11) “Shock therapy” means a form of psychiatric treatment in which electric current, insulin, carbon dioxide or indoklon, or other similar agent, is administered to the patient and results in a loss of consciousness or a convulsive or comatose reaction;

(12) “Direct threat of harm” means that the patient's clinical history demonstrates a pattern of serious physical injury or life-threatening injury to self or to others which is caused by the psychiatric disabilities with which the patient has been diagnosed and is documented by objective medical and other factual evidence. Such evidence of past pattern of dangerous behavior shall be manifested in the patient's medical history and there shall exist a high probability that the patient will inflict substantial harm on himself or others; and

(13) “Special limited conservator” means a licensed health care provider with specialized training in the treatment of persons with psychiatric disabilities appointed by a judge of the Probate Court with specific authority to consent to the administration of medication to a defendant during the pendency of such defendant's placement in the custody of the Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services pursuant to section 54-56d. Upon the termination of the patient's placement in the custody of the commissioner pursuant to section 54-56d, the special limited conservatorship shall automatically terminate.

(1971, P.A. 834, S. 1; P.A. 74-8, S. 1, 2; 74-9, S. 1, 2; P.A. 78-219, S. 5; P.A. 93-369, S. 2; P.A. 95-257, S. 48, 58; P.A. 04-160, S. 1.)

History: P.A. 74-8 redefined “voluntary patient” by replacing “over sixteen years of age” with “sixteen years of age or older”; P.A. 74-9 added Subdiv. (i) defining “medically harmful”; P.A. 78-219 defined “psychosurgery” and “shock therapy” in new Subdivs. (j) and (k) and referred to “most recent” edition of Manual of Mental Disorders in Subdiv. (c) rather than the “second” “1968” edition; Sec. 17-206a transferred to Sec. 17a-540 in 1991; P.A. 93-369 changed “the mentally disordered” to “persons with a mental illness”, redefined “informed consent” and added definition of “direct threat of harm”; P.A. 95-257 replaced “mental illness” with “psychiatric disabilities”, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 04-160 redesignated Subdivs. (a) to (l) as Subdivs. (1) to (12), made technical changes and added Subdiv. (13) defining “special limited conservator”.

Annotations to former section 17-206a:

Cited. 213 C. 548.

Cited. 17 CA 130.

16-year-old voluntary patient's rights same as adult. 30 CS 320. Cited. 33 CS 191.

Annotations to present section:

Cited. 233 C. 44. Conserved person may bring an action on her own behalf pursuant to patients' bill of rights; action on behalf of a conserved person may be brought by a next friend pursuant to patients' bill of rights where there are exceptional circumstances; Superior Court has subject matter jurisdiction over a complaint brought pursuant to patients' bill of rights. 252 C. 68. Subdiv. (1): Term “other facility” does not encompass correctional institutions. 269 C. 802.

Cited. 44 CS 53.

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Notes of Decisions

Cited in 12 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1995–2024 · leading case: Wiseman v. Armstrong, 850 A.2d 114 (Conn. 2004).

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Wiseman v. Armstrong, 850 A.2d 114 (Conn. 2004). · cites it 21× “The principal issue in this appeal is whether the trial court properly determined that the *805 provisions of General Statutes §§ 17a-540 through 17a-550, which is known as the patients’ bill of rights, apply to correctional institutions operated by the state department of…”

Giordano v. Connecticut Valley Hosp., 588 F. Supp. 2d 306 (D. Conn. 2008). · cites it 6× “Plaintiffs further allege that the smoking ban violates provisions of Connecticut’s Patient Bill of Rights, Conn. Gen.Stat. § 17a-540 et seq., and the Connecticut Constitution.”

Doe v. Town of W. Hartford, 147 A.3d 1083 (Conn. App. Ct. 2016). · cites it 2× “" The hospital defendants contended that a two year statute of limitations, pursuant to § 52-584, was applicable to count forty-three of the plaintiff's complaint, in which the plaintiff had alleged a violation of the patient's bill of rights pursuant to General Statutes §…”

Phoebe G. v. Solnit, 743 A.2d 606 (Conn. 1999). · cites it 5× “The plaintiff, for whom conservators were appointed, seeks injunctive relief 2 pursuant to General Statutes §§ 17a-540 through 17a-550 (patients’ bill of rights), 3 42 U.”

State v. Garcia, 658 A.2d 947 (Conn. 1995). · cites it 2× “Specifically, the defendant argues that the patients’ bill of rights; see General Statutes § 17a-540 et seq.; and our case law “arguably [define] the personal interest to refuse antipsychotic medication more expansively than simply ‘a significant liberty interest.”

Doe v. Dept. of Mental Health & Addiction Servs., 204 A.3d 1230 (Conn. App. Ct. 2019). · cites it 2× “On appeal, the plaintiffs claim that the court improperly (1) concluded that the commitment of Mary Doe, as the only woman in an otherwise all male maximum security unit at a forensic psychiatric hospital, was not a per se violation of the statutory bill of rights for…”

State v. Webber, 225 Conn. App. 16 (Conn. App. Ct. 2024). · cites it 2× “We agree with the state that, when properly read in context, the phrase ‘‘jail or prison time’’ in § 54- 255 (c) (5) (A) is most reasonably construed to include 8 Specifically, the acquittee draws our attention to four distinctions that our courts and legislature have made.”

Anderson v. Dike, 202 A.3d 448 (Conn. App. Ct. 2019). · cites it 2× “The plaintiff commenced this action in September, 2014, pursuant to the patients' bill of rights, General Statutes § 17a-540 et seq. The plaintiff alleged the following facts in his complaint.”

Jezouit v. Malloy, 193 Conn. App. 576 (Conn. App. Ct. 2019). “The statute in particular provides a ‘‘remedy for those persons aggrieved by violations of any specific provisions of the patients’ bill of rights, [General Stat- utes §§ 17a-540 to 17a-549],’’ by permitting such persons to petition the Superior Court for appropriate relief or…”

Galea v. Law Offices of Cary Alan Cliff (D. Conn. 2021). · cites it 2× “See Conn. Gen. Stat. § 17a-540 et. seq. Because the defendants do not specifically address the substance of those claims other than noting that Galea makes reference to them, I do not address them here.”

State v. Anderson (Conn. 2015). · cites it 3× “t cites his right to be treated at the hospital, a maximum security psychiat- ric facility, as a result of his acquittal by reason of mental disease or defect and the board’s subsequent determinations; see General Statutes § 17a-561 (‘‘[t]he Whiting Forensic Division of the…”

Paschal-Barros v. Quiros (D. Conn. 2022). “§§17a-540 through 17a-550, and §§46a-69 and 46a-77(c).”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.