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31-226. Mentally disordered prisoner; procedure for voluntary or involuntary hospitalization; notice; hearing; transfer; reports; return to incarceration or release; costs; definition

A. If a prisoner confined in any facility operated by the state department of corrections displays symptoms of mental disorder to such a degree that transfer to the state hospital or a licensed behavioral health or mental health inpatient treatment facility operated by the state department of corrections is necessary to ensure adequate treatment, the psychiatrist of the facility, or if no psychiatrist is available, the physician at the facility, shall examine the prisoner and make a written report of the psychiatrist's or physician's recommendations to the director of the state department of corrections. On receipt of a report that states that the psychiatrist or physician finds that the symptoms described in this subsection exist, the director of the state department of corrections may allow the prisoner to voluntarily transfer to a licensed behavioral health or mental health inpatient treatment facility operated by the state department of corrections if the prisoner is an adult male, to the state hospital or a licensed behavioral health treatment facility operated by the state department of corrections if the prisoner is a female or to the state hospital if the prisoner is a minor. If the patient does not voluntarily transfer, the director shall file a petition with the superior court in the county in which the prisoner is incarcerated for transfer for treatment of the prisoner to the state hospital or a licensed behavioral health treatment facility operated by the state department of corrections if the prisoner is a female, to a licensed behavioral health or mental health inpatient treatment facility operated by the state department of corrections if the prisoner is an adult male or to the state hospital if the prisoner is a minor.

B. At least ten days before the court conducts the hearing on the petition for transfer, the state department of corrections shall provide a copy of the petition and written notice of the hearing to the prisoner and written notice of the prisoner's rights at the hearing.

C. At least five days before the hearing, if the prisoner has not employed counsel, the court shall appoint counsel or an independent advisor to represent the prisoner at the hearing. On application by the prisoner the court shall also determine the necessity for any expert testimony by medical witnesses and authorize any necessary appointment and compensation for these witnesses at the state's expense. Notice shall be given to the state hospital if the prisoner is a female or a minor, and the state hospital shall be provided with an opportunity to participate in the hearing as an interested party, if it so desires.

D. At the hearing, the prisoner or the prisoner's representative may call witnesses to testify and may confront and cross-examine witnesses called by the state department of corrections except on a finding of good cause for not permitting such presentation, confrontation or cross-examination.

E. If the prisoner is determined to be suffering from a mental disorder to such a degree that transfer to the state hospital or a licensed behavioral health or mental health inpatient treatment facility operated by the state department of corrections is necessary to ensure adequate treatment, the court shall order and direct that the prisoner be transferred for treatment to the state hospital in the legal custody of the state department of corrections or a licensed behavioral health treatment facility operated by the state department of corrections if the prisoner is a female, to a licensed behavioral health or mental health inpatient treatment facility operated by the state department of corrections if the prisoner is an adult male or to the state hospital if the prisoner is a minor. The transfer of the prisoner to the state hospital shall be made by the state department of corrections. The court order must be in writing and state the evidence relied on and the reasons for transferring the prisoner.

F. The superintendent of the state hospital shall provide the state department of corrections with a quarterly report of the condition of a prisoner transferred to the state hospital. The superintendent of the state hospital and the director of the state department of corrections shall also provide the superior court in the county which has jurisdiction over the transfer proceeding with a quarterly report of the condition of the prisoner.

G. If, in the opinion of the superintendent of the state hospital or the director of the state department of corrections, the prisoner no longer suffers from a mental disorder such that placement in the state hospital or the licensed behavioral health or mental health inpatient treatment facility operated by the state department of corrections is necessary to ensure adequate treatment, the superintendent of the state hospital or the director of the state department of corrections shall order the prisoner to a licensed behavioral health treatment facility operated by the state department of corrections or returned to a prison facility to serve the prisoner's unexpired term, and the period the prisoner was confined in the state hospital or the behavioral health or mental health treatment agency shall be considered as though incarcerated in a state department of corrections facility. If the term of imprisonment expires during the time the prisoner is confined in the state hospital or the behavioral health or mental health inpatient treatment facility, the director of the state department of corrections shall issue to the prisoner an absolute discharge at that time, and the prisoner's rights to release from the hospital are as provided in title 36, chapter 5.

H. A court-ordered evaluation may be made in accordance with title 36, chapter 5, article 4 if, within one hundred twenty days of the prisoner's scheduled release from prison or during any time that the prisoner is on release status, the prisoner appears to be, as a result of a mental disorder, a danger to self or to others, or gravely disabled, and is unwilling to undergo a voluntary evaluation. For the purposes of this section, an inpatient mental health treatment facility operated by the state department of corrections is authorized to act as a screening agency. If the court orders inpatient evaluation, the order shall take effect on the day of the prisoner's scheduled release, or if the prisoner is on release status, on a date determined by the court, and the state department of corrections shall deliver the prisoner to the evaluation agency. Thereafter, all further evaluation and treatment shall be in accordance with the provisions of title 36, chapter 5, as they pertain to civil patients.

I. The state department of corrections shall pay all costs incurred for the prisoner during the term of the prisoner's sentence.

J. The county in which the court is located shall be reimbursed for expenses of the proceedings incurred by the county in accordance with section 31-227.

K. As used in this section "mental disorder" has the same meaning prescribed in section 36-501.