O.C.G.A. § 37-2-50 (2019)
Additional powers and duties
Commencing with the calendar month immediately following the month in which this part becomes effective, for the purposes of this article, the office and ombudsman shall, in addition to those powers and duties provided by Code Section 37-2-47, receive, investigate, refer, and attempt to resolve complaints made by or on behalf of all consumers with developmental disability or addictive disease.
History
Code 1981, § 37-2-50, enacted by Ga. L. 2008, p. 133, § 3/HB 535.
CHAPTER 3 EXAMINATION, TREATMENT, ETC., FOR MENTAL ILLNESS Sec.
Article 1 General Provisions Sec.
Definitions. Authority of board to issue regulations; powers of department generally. Validity of hospitalization orders entered before September 1, 1978; establishment of regulations as to orders authorizing continued hospitalization of patients hospitalized before September 1, 1978. Immunity from liability for actions taken in good faith compliance with admission and discharge provisions of chapter; immunity not applicable to failure to meet standard of care in provision of treatment. Apprehension by peace officer of patient who leaves facility without permission. Approval of private facilities as emergency receiving, evaluating, or treatment facility; powers and duties of private facilities; right to deny admission. Abandoning or leaving patients on grounds of psychiatric hospital. Loitering or trespassing on grounds of psychiatric hospital.
Article 3 Examination, Hospitalization, and Treatment of Involuntary Patients PART 1 EMERGENCY RECEIVING FACILITIES FOR EXAMINATION OF PERSONS APPREHENDED PURSUANT TO PHYSICIAN’S CERTIFICATE, COURT ORDER, ETC.
Article 2 Hospitalization and Treatment of Voluntary Patients
Admission of voluntary patients; consent of parent or guardian to treatment; giving notice of rights to patient at time of admission. Discharge of voluntary patients upon recovery or termination of need for hospitalization; notice of discharge.
Right of voluntary patient to discharge upon application; exception; procedure on denial of application for discharge; notice of discharge. Giving voluntary patients periodic notice of rights. Transfer of involuntary patients to voluntary status; notice of transfer and of discharge of patients so transferred; discharge of transferred patient charged with criminal offense.
Designation by department of emergency receiving facilities; reporting; penalty for noncompliance. Emergency admission based on physician’s certification or court order; report by apprehending officer; entry of treatment order into patient’s clinical record; authority of other personnel to act under statute; annual reporting. Emergency admission of persons arrested for penal offenses; report by officer; entry of report into clinical record. Procedure upon admission; notice of proposed discharge. Giving person and representatives notice of their rights upon admission to emergency receiving facility.
TREATMENT, ETC., FOR MENTAL ILLNESS PART 2
Sec.
EVALUATING FACILITIES FOR EXAMINATION OF PERSONS ORDERED TO UNDERGO EVALUATION FOR MENTAL ILLNESS
Designation of evaluating facilities. Initiation of proceedings for court ordered evaluation. Hearing on petition for court ordered evaluation; recipients of hearing notice; appointment of representatives; contents of notice; patient’s right to counsel; waiver of hearing; procedure upon issuance of order for evaluation. Admission of persons to evaluating facilities for evaluation and emergency treatment. Length of detention in evaluating facility; discharge; procedure upon determination of need for hospitalization or involuntary treatment; recipients of notice of discharge from facility. Request for transfer to another evaluating facility; recipients of notice of transfer.
Designation of treatment facilities.
Annotations
Cross references. - Mental incompetency and dependency for juveniles, T. 15, C. 11, A. 4.
Plea in criminal case that defendant was insane or mentally incompetent at time act committed or is mentally incompetent to stand trial, § 17-7-130 et seq.
Protective services for abused, neglected, or exploited disabled adults, T. 30, C. 5.
Reporting of abuse or exploitation of residents of long-term care facilities, § 31-8-80 et seq.
Rights of persons residing in long-term care facilities generally, § 31-8-100 et seq.
Licensing of applied psychologists, T. 43, C. 39.
Administrative Rules and Regulations. - Rules and regulations on "Mental Health and Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse," Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Department of Human Resources, Chapters 290-4-1 and 290-4-3 et seq.
Adult crisis stabilization units, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia, Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, Chapter 82-3-1.
Children and adolescent crisis stabilization units, Official Compilation of the Rules and Regulations of the State or Georgia, Department of Behavioral Health and Disabilities, Chapter 82-4-1.
Law reviews. - For article, "Signing into Heaven: Zinermon v. Burch, Federal Rights, and State Remedies Thirty Years After Monroe v. Pape," see 40 Emory L.J. 1 (1991).
For note on commitment and release of persons found not guilty by reason of insanity, see 15 Ga. L. Rev. 1065 (1981).
For comment, "Having an Affair May Shorten Your Life: The Ashley Madison Suicides," see 33 Georgia St. U. L. Rev. 455 (2017).
JUDICIAL DECISIONS
Retention of jurisdiction by court when defendant committed after plea of insanity. - When the defendant enters a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, which is accepted, and the court commits the defendant to a hospital for treatment, the committing court retains jurisdiction of the acquitted-committed defendant. Moses v. State, 167 Ga. App. 556, 307 S.E.2d 35 (1983), overruled on other grounds, Nagel v. State, 262 Ga. 888, 427 S.E.2d 490 (1993).
Commitment of pretrial detainee. - Superior court has authority to civilly commit a pretrial detainee who is incompetent to stand trial, as long as the court utilizes the criteria and procedures set forth in Chapter 3 of Title 37 in making the court's decision. Department of Human Resources v. Long, 217 Ga. App. 763, 458 S.E.2d 914 (1995).
Cited in Whitfield v. State, 158 Ga. App. 660, 281 S.E.2d 643 (1981); Clayton v. State, 160 Ga. App. 908, 288 S.E.2d 621 (1982); Benham v. Ledbetter, 609 F. Supp. 125 (N.D. Ga. 1985), aff'd, 785 F.2d 1480 (1986).
RESEARCH REFERENCES
Wrongful Confinement to a Mental Health or Developmental Disabilities, 44 POF3d 217.
Incompetency and Commitment Proceedings, 8 Am. Jur. Trials 483.
Representing the Mentally Ill: Civil Commitment Proceedings, 26 Am. Jur. Trials 97.
ALR. - Physical or mental illness as basis of dismissal of student from school, college, or university, 17 A.L.R.4th 519.
Appealability of state criminal court order requiring witness other than accused to undergo psychiatric examination, 17 A.L.R.4th 867.
Liability of doctor, psychiatrist, or psychologist for failure to take steps to prevent patient's suicide, 17 A.L.R.4th 1128.
Power of court, in absence of statute, to order psychiatric examination of accused for purpose of determining mental condition at time of alleged offense, 17 A.L.R.4th 1274.
Hospital's liability for mentally deranged patient's self-inflicted injuries, 36 A.L.R.4th 117.
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ARTICLE 1 GENERAL PROVISIONS