O.C.G.A.
O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 37-3-22 (2019)

Right of voluntary patient to discharge upon application; exception; procedure on denial of application for discharge; notice of discharge

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)
Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.
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(a) A voluntary patient, other than a minor child for whom admission has been sought by his parents or guardian, who has admitted himself to a facility pursuant to subsection (a) of Code Section 37-3-20 or any voluntary patient’s personal representative, legal guardian, parent, spouse, attorney, or adult next of kin may request such patient’s discharge in writing at any time after his admission. If the patient was admitted on his own application and the request for discharge is made by a person other than the patient, the discharge shall be conditioned upon the agreement of the patient thereto, unless such other person is the legal guardian of the patient’s person. The request for discharge may be submitted to the chief medical officer or to any staff physician or staff psychologist or staff registered nurse of the facility for transmittal to the chief medical officer. If the patient or another on his behalf makes an oral request for release to any member of the staff or other service provider, the patient must within 24 hours be given assistance in preparing a written request. The person to whom a written request is

submitted shall deliver the request to the chief medical officer within 24 hours, Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays excluded. Within 72 hours, excluding Sundays and legal holidays, of the delivery of a written request for release to the chief medical officer, the patient must be discharged from the facility, unless the chief medical officer finds that the discharge would be unsafe for the patient or others, in which case proceedings for involuntary treatment must be initiated under either Code Section 37-3-41, Code Section 37-3-61, or Code Section 37-3-81. (b) Notice of discharge of patients who have been transferred from involuntary to voluntary status shall be given pursuant to Code Section

History

Ga. L. 1952, p. 94, § 3; Ga. L. 1958, p. 697, § 4; Ga. L. 1960, p. 837, § 4; Code 1933, § 88-504, enacted by Ga. L. 1964, p. 499, § 1; Code 1933,

§ 88-503.3, enacted by Ga. L. 1969, p. 505, § 1; Ga. L. 1978, p. 1789, § 1; Ga. L. 1983, p. 3, § 28; Ga. L. 1991, p. 1059, § 9; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 37.

Annotations

JUDICIAL DECISIONS Voluntary patients with legal guardians. - State’s policy of discharging a voluntary patient who has a legal guardian or affording the patient an involuntary commitment hearing only upon the request of the patient’s guardian deprives the patient of the patient’s right to challenge the patient’s confinement and violates due process. Heichelbech v. Evans, 798 F. Supp. 708 (M.D. Ga. 1992), aff ’d, 995 F.2d 237 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 947, 114 S. Ct. 389, 126 L. Ed. 2d 338 (1993). Distinguishing between voluntary patients with legal guardians and those without in the state’s procedure for discharge from a state mental hospital does not violate equal protection since there is

a rational basis for the distinction. Heichelbech v. Evans, 798 F. Supp. 708 (M.D. Ga. 1992), aff ’d, 995 F.2d 237 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 947, 114 S. Ct. 389, 126 L. Ed. 2d 338 (1993). Section inapplicable to release on pass. - O.C.G.A. §§ 37-3-21 and 37-3-22 did not apply in a negligence action against a hospital based on the hospital’s release on a 24-hour pass of a patient who subsequently murdered the patient’s mother. Board of Regents v. Riddle, 229 Ga. App. 15, 493 S.E.2d 208 (1997). Cited in J.L. v. Parham, 412 F. Supp. 112 (M.D. Ga. 1976); Parham v. J.R., 442 U.S. 584, 99 S. Ct. 2493, 61 L. Ed. 2d 101 (1979).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL Voluntary patient at a state hospital may be picked up and returned to the hospital by the hospital police if the

patient leaves without making a request to be discharged and without permission. 1970 Op. Att’y Gen. No. U70-183.

RESEARCH REFERENCES ALR. - Liability of one releasing institutionalized mental patient for harm he causes, 38 A.L.R.3d 699.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases, 1992–2009 · leading case: Purcell v. Breese, 552 S.E.2d 865 (Ga. Ct. App. 2001).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Purcell v. Breese, 552 S.E.2d 865 (Ga. Ct. App. 2001). · cites it 4× “OCGA § 37-3-22 (a). They also note that Jonathan’s discharge request was never put in writing.”
Georgia Mental Health Inst. v. Brady, 436 S.E.2d 219 (Ga. 1993). · cites it 4× “OCGA § 37-3-22. The probate court heard GMHI's petition, determined that Brady did not meet the requirements for involuntary commitment, and accordingly ordered GMHI to discharge Brady immediately.”
Krachman v. Ridgeview Inst., Inc., 687 S.E.2d 627 (Ga. Ct. App. 2009). · cites it 6× “Krachman concedes that she was lawfully admitted to Ridgeview as a voluntary patient pursuant to OCGA § 37-3-20 (a), but contends that she was unlawfully detained after Ridgeview staff members failed to adhere to the discharge procedures in OCGA § 37-3-22 (a). OCGA § 37-3-4…”
Heath v. Emory Univ. Hosp., 431 S.E.2d 427 (Ga. Ct. App. 1993). · cites it 2× “that at the time she arrived at Emory Hospital she believed she was checking herself into a weight loss clinic and that she was never notified of her statutory rights as a voluntary mental health patient and thus had no knowledge that she was, instead, checking herself into a…”
Heichelbech v. Evans, 798 F. Supp. 708 (M.D. Ga. 1992). · cites it 12× “This policy was based upon the State’s interpretation of O.C.G.A. § 37-3-22(a), the statute applying to voluntary patient discharge: A voluntary patient, .”
Brand v. Univ. Hosp., 525 S.E.2d 374 (Ga. Ct. App. 1999). · cites it 2× “The hospital did not dispute that Brand wanted to leave, but rather argues that after “consultation with physicians and University Hospital staff, voluntarily chose to remain in the Behavioral Health Unit.”
— 37-3-22(a) — 2 cases
Purcell v. Breese, 552 S.E.2d 865 (Ga. Ct. App. 2001). “OCGA § 37-3-22 (a). They also note that Jonathan’s discharge request was never put in writing.”
Heichelbech v. Evans, 798 F. Supp. 708 (M.D. Ga. 1992). “This policy was based upon the State’s interpretation of O.C.G.A. § 37-3-22(a), the statute applying to voluntary patient discharge: A voluntary patient, .”
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.