Vermont Statutes Annotated

Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 18, § 7510 (2026)

Preliminary hearing

✓ current as of May 2026

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(Cite as: 18 V.S.A. § 7510)

§ 7510. Preliminary hearing

(a) Within five days after a person is admitted to a designated hospital for emergency examination, he or she may request 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 after the filing of the request. The court shall cause timely notice of the preliminary hearing to be given to the patient or the patient’s 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; 2019, No. 167 (Adj. Sess.), § 20, eff. Oct. 7, 2020; 2023, No. 6, § 201, eff. July 1, 2023.)

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 3 cases, 2005–2009 · leading case: In re S.N., 2007 VT 47 (Vt. 2007).

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In re S.N., 2007 VT 47 (Vt. 2007). “Despite the State’s inability to fully resolve the evidentiary issues attendant to preliminary hearings under 18 V.S.A. § 7510, our review of the court’s evidentiary rulings at S.”

State v. Curry, 2009 VT 89 (Vt. 2009). · cites it 2× “requested a hearing under 18 V.S.A. § 7510(a), which allows someone who is being held involuntarily to have a court determine whether the State had probable cause to hold him at the time it admitted him to the state hospital.”

E.S. v. State, 2005 VT 33 (Vt. 2005). “requested a probable cause hearing on January 13, 2004, 18 V.S.A § 7510(a), and the hearing was held on January 21,2004.”

— Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 18, § 7510(a) — 2 cases

State v. Curry, 2009 VT 89 (Vt. 2009). “requested a hearing under 18 V.S.A. § 7510(a), which allows someone who is being held involuntarily to have a court determine whether the State had probable cause to hold him at the time it admitted him to the state hospital.”

E.S. v. State, 2005 VT 33 (Vt. 2005). “requested a probable cause hearing on January 13, 2004, 18 V.S.A § 7510(a), and the hearing was held on January 21,2004.”

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