TITLE 37 MENTAL HEALTH

Section 3. Examination, Treatment, etc., for Mental Illness, 37-3-1 through 37-3-168.

ARTICLE 4 PLACEMENT, TRANSFER, AND TRANSPORTATION OF PATIENTS GENERALLY

37-3-102. Transfer of patients to custody of federal agencies for diagnosis, care, or treatment; retention of jurisdiction by Georgia courts; jurisdiction in federal hospitals and institutions located in Georgia.

1. If a patient ordered to be hospitalized pursuant to this chapter is eligible for hospital care or treatment by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or any other federal agency, the department shall transfer the patient to the custody of the nearest such agency with available bed space for diagnosis, care, or treatment. When any such patient is admitted under this Code section to any such hospital or institution within or outside the state, he shall be subject to the rules and regulations of such agency. Upon notification from the superintendent or the chief medical officer of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center for those patients therein who may require involuntary treatment pursuant to this chapter, the patient will be evaluated, while remaining in the physical custody of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, by the nearest emergency receiving facility. The superintendent and chief medical officer of any hospital or institution operated by such agency in which the individual is so hospitalized shall, with respect to such individual, be vested with the same powers and duties as the superintendent and chief medical officer of facilities within this state with respect to all matters under this chapter. Jurisdiction is retained in the appropriate courts of this state at any time to inquire into the mental condition of an individual so hospitalized to determine the necessity for continuance of his hospitalization and to order his release; and every transfer of a patient by the department pursuant to this Code section is so conditioned.
2. An order of a court of competent jurisdiction of another state, territory, or possession or of the District of Columbia authorizing hospitalization of a patient by any agency of the United States shall have the same force and effect as to the patient while in this state as in the jurisdiction in which is situated the court entering the order; and the courts of the state, territory, possession, or district issuing such order shall be deemed to have retained jurisdiction of the patient so hospitalized for the purpose of inquiring into his mental condition and determining the necessity for continuance of his hospitalization, as is provided in subsection (a) of this Code section with respect to patients ordered hospitalized by the courts of this state. Consent is given for the application of the law of the state, territory, possession, or district in which is located the court issuing the order for hospitalization with respect to the authority of the chief medical officer of any hospital or institution operated in this state by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs or any other federal agency to retain custody, transfer, furlough, or discharge the patient therein hospitalized.

(Ga. L. 1958, p. 697, §§ 7, 10; Ga. L. 1960, p. 837, §§ 7, 10; Code 1933, §§ 88-507, 88-510, enacted by Ga. L. 1964, p. 499, § 1; Code 1933, § 88-508.5, enacted by Ga. L. 1969, p. 505, § 1; Code 1933, § 88-507.4, enacted by Ga. L. 1978, p. 1789, § 1; Ga. L. 1984, p. 756, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 45, § 1.)