6500-6513
WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE
SECTION 6500-6513
6500. On and after July 1, 1971, no mentally retarded person may be committed to the State Department of Developmental Services pursuant to this article, unless he or she is a danger to himself or herself, or others. For the purposes of this article, dangerousness to self or others shall be considered to include, but not be limited to, a finding of incompetence to stand trial pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 1367) of Title 10 of Part 2 of the Penal Code when the defendant has been charged with murder, mayhem, aggravated mayhem, a violation of Section 207, 209, or 209.5 of the Penal Code in which the victim suffers intentionally inflicted great bodily injury, robbery perpetrated by torture or by a person armed with a dangerous or deadly weapon or in which the victim suffers great bodily injury, carjacking perpetrated by torture or by a person armed with a dangerous or deadly weapon or in which the victim suffers great bodily injury, a violation of subdivision (b) of Section 451 of the Penal Code, a violation of paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 262 or paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 261 of the Penal Code, a violation of Section 288 of the Penal Code, any of the following acts when committed by force, violence, duress, menace, fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the victim or another person: a violation of paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 262 of the Penal Code, a violation of Section 264.1, 286, or 288a of the Penal Code, or a violation of subdivision (a) of Section 289 of the Penal Code; a violation of Section 459 of the Penal Code in the first degree, assault with intent to commit murder, a violation of Section 220 of the Penal Code in which the victim suffers great bodily injury, a violation of Section 12303.1, 12303.3, 12308, 12309, or 12310 of the Penal Code, or if the defendant has been charged with a felony involving death, great bodily injury, or an act which poses a serious threat of bodily harm to another person. If the mentally retarded person is in the care or treatment of a state hospital, developmental center, or other facility at the time a petition for commitment is filed pursuant to this article, proof of a recent overt act while in the care and treatment of a state hospital, developmental center, or other facility is not required in order to find that the person is a danger to self or others. Any order of commitment made pursuant to this article shall expire automatically one year after the order of commitment is made. This section shall not be construed to prohibit any party enumerated in Section 6502 from filing subsequent petitions for additional periods of commitment. In the event subsequent petitions are filed, the procedures followed shall be the same as with an initial petition for commitment. In any proceedings conducted under the authority of this article, the alleged mentally retarded person shall be informed of his or her right to counsel by the court, and if the person does not have an attorney for the proceedings, the court shall immediately appoint the public defender or other attorney to represent him or her. The person shall pay the cost for the legal services if he or she is able to do so. At any judicial proceeding under the provisions of this article, allegations that a person is mentally retarded and a danger to himself or herself or to others shall be presented by the district attorney for the county unless the board of supervisors, by ordinance or resolution, delegates this authority to the county counsel. 6500. On and after July 1, 1971, no mentally retarded person may be committed to the State Department of Developmental Services pursuant to this article, unless he or she is a danger to himself or herself, or others. For the purposes of this article, dangerousness to self or others shall be considered to include, but not be limited to, a finding of incompetence to stand trial pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 1367) of Title 10 of Part 2 of the Penal Code when the defendant has been charged with murder, mayhem, aggravated mayhem, a violation of Section 207, 209, or 209.5 of the Penal Code in which the victim suffers intentionally inflicted great bodily injury, robbery perpetrated by torture or by a person armed with a dangerous or deadly weapon or in which the victim suffers great bodily injury, carjacking perpetrated by torture or by a person armed with a dangerous or deadly weapon or in which the victim suffers great bodily injury, a violation of subdivision (b) of Section 451 of the Penal Code, a violation of paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 262 or paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 261 of the Penal Code, a violation of Section 288 of the Penal Code, any of the following acts when committed by force, violence, duress, menace, fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the victim or another person: a violation of paragraph (1) or (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 262 of the Penal Code, a violation of Section 264.1, 286, or 288a of the Penal Code, or a violation of subdivision (a) of Section 289 of the Penal Code; a violation of Section 459 of the Penal Code in the first degree, assault with intent to commit murder, a violation of Section 220 of the Penal Code in which the victim suffers great bodily injury, a violation of Section 18725, 18740, 18745, 18750, or 18755 of the Penal Code, or if the defendant has been charged with a felony involving death, great bodily injury, or an act which poses a serious threat of bodily harm to another person. If the mentally retarded person is in the care or treatment of a state hospital, developmental center, or other facility at the time a petition for commitment is filed pursuant to this article, proof of a recent overt act while in the care and treatment of a state hospital, developmental center, or other facility is not required in order to find that the person is a danger to self or others. Any order of commitment made pursuant to this article shall expire automatically one year after the order of commitment is made. This section shall not be construed to prohibit any party enumerated in Section 6502 from filing subsequent petitions for additional periods of commitment. In the event subsequent petitions are filed, the procedures followed shall be the same as with an initial petition for commitment. In any proceedings conducted under the authority of this article, the alleged mentally retarded person shall be informed of his or her right to counsel by the court, and if the person does not have an attorney for the proceedings, the court shall immediately appoint the public defender or other attorney to represent him or her. The person shall pay the cost for the legal services if he or she is able to do so. At any judicial proceeding under the provisions of this article, allegations that a person is mentally retarded and a danger to himself or herself or to others shall be presented by the district attorney for the county unless the board of supervisors, by ordinance or resolution, delegates this authority to the county counsel. 6501. If a person is charged with a violent felony, as described in Section 667.5 of the Penal Code, and the individual has been committed to the State Department of Developmental Services pursuant to Section 1370.1 of the Penal Code or Section 6500 for placement in a secure treatment facility, as described in subdivision (e) of Section 1370.1 of the Penal Code, the department shall give priority to placing the individual at Porterville Developmental Center prior to placing the individual at any other developmental center that has been designated as a secure treatment facility. 6502. A petition for the commitment of a mentally retarded person to the State Department of Developmental Services who has been found incompetent to stand trial pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 1367) of Title 10 of Part 2 of the Penal Code when the defendant has been charged with one or more of the offenses identified or described in Section 6500, may be filed in the superior court of the county that determined the question of mental competence of the defendant. All other petitions may be filed in the county in which that person is physically present. The following persons may request the person authorized to present allegations pursuant to Section 6500 to file a petition for commitment: (a) The parent, guardian, conservator, or other person charged with the support of the mentally retarded person. (b) The probation officer. (c) The Youth Authority. (d) Any person designated for that purpose by the judge of the court. (e) The Director of Corrections. (f) The regional center director or his or her designee. The request shall state the petitioner's reasons for supposing the person to be eligible for admission thereto, and shall be verified by affidavit. 6503. The court shall fix a time and place for the hearing of the petition. The time for the hearing shall be set no more than 60 days after the filing of the petition. The court may grant a continuance only upon a showing of good cause. The hearing may, in the discretion of the court, be held at any place which the court deems proper, and which will give opportunity for the production and examination of witnesses. 6504. In all cases the court shall require due notice of the hearing of the petition to be given to the alleged mentally retarded person. Whenever a petition is filed, the court shall require such notice of the hearing of the petition as it deems proper to be given to any parent, guardian, conservator, or other person charged with the support of the person mentioned in the petition. 6504.5. Wherever a petition is filed pursuant to this article, the court shall appoint the director of a regional center for the developmentally disabled established under Division 4.5 of this code, or the designee of the director, to examine the alleged mentally retarded person. Within 15 judicial days after his or her appointment, the regional center director or designee shall submit to the court in writing a report containing his or her evaluation of the alleged mentally retarded person. The report shall contain a recommendation of a facility or facilities in which the alleged developmentally disabled person may be placed. The report shall include a description of the least restrictive residential placement necessary to achieve the purposes of treatment. In determining the least restrictive residential placement, consideration shall be given to public safety. If placement into or out of a developmental center is recommended, the regional center director or designee simultaneously shall submit the report to the executive director of the developmental center or his or her designee. The executive director of the developmental center or his or her designee may, within 15 days of receiving the regional center report, submit to the court a written report evaluating the ability of the developmental center to achieve the purposes of treatment for this person and whether the developmental center placement can adequately provide the security measures or systems required to protect the public health and safety from the potential dangers posed by the person's known behaviors. The reports prepared by the regional center director and developmental center director, if applicable, shall also address suitable interim placements for the person as provided for in Section 6506. 6505. Whenever the court considers it necessary or advisable, it may cause an order to issue for the apprehension and delivery to the court of the alleged mentally retarded person, and may have the order executed by any peace officer. 6506. Pending the hearing, the court may order that the alleged dangerous mentally retarded person may be left in the charge of his or her parent, guardian, conservator, or other suitable person, or placed in a state hospital for the developmentally disabled, in the county psychiatric hospital, or in any other suitable placement as determined by the court. Prior to the issuance of an order under this section, the regional center and developmental center, if applicable, shall recommend to the court a suitable person or facility to care for the alleged mentally retarded person. The determination of a suitable person or facility shall be the least restrictive option that provides for the person's treatment needs and that has existing security systems or measures in place to adequately protect the public safety from any known dangers posed by the person. In determining whether the public safety will be adequately protected, the court shall make the finding required by subparagraph (D) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 1370.1 of the Penal Code. Pending the hearing, the court may order that the person receive necessary habilitation, care, and treatment, including medical and dental treatment. Orders made pursuant to this section shall expire at the time set for the hearing pursuant to Section 6503. If the court upon a showing of good cause grants a continuance of the hearing on the matter, it shall order that the person be detained pursuant to this section until the hearing on the petition is held. 6507. The court shall inquire into the condition or status of the alleged mentally retarded person. For this purpose it may by subpoena require the attendance before it of a physician who has made a special study of mental retardation and is qualified as a medical examiner, and of a clinical psychologist, or of two such physicians, or of two such psychologists, to examine the person and testify concerning his mentality. The court may also by subpoena require the attendance of such other persons as it deems advisable, to give evidence. 6508. Each psychologist and physician shall receive for each attendance mentioned in Section 6507 the sum of five dollars ($5) for each person examined, together with his necessary actual expenses occasioned thereby, and other witnesses shall receive for such attendance such fees and expenses as the court in its discretion allows, if any, not exceeding the fees and expenses allowed by law in other cases in the superior court. Any fees or traveling expenses payable to a psychologist, physician, or witness as provided in this section and all expenses connected with the execution of any process under the provisions of this article, which are not paid by the parent, guardian, conservator, or person charged with the support of the supposed mentally retarded person, shall be paid by the county treasurer of the county in which the person resides, upon the presentation to the treasurer of a certificate of the judge that the claimant is entitled thereto. 6509. (a) If the court finds that the person is mentally retarded, and that he or she is a danger to himself, herself, or to others, the court may make an order that the person be committed to the State Department of Developmental Services for suitable treatment and habilitation services. Suitable treatment and habilitation services is defined as the least restrictive residential placement necessary to achieve the purposes of treatment. Care and treatment of a person committed to the State Department of Developmental Services may include placement in any state hospital, developmental center, any licensed community care facility, as defined in Section 1504, or any health facility, as defined in Section 1250, or any other appropriate placement permitted by law. The court shall hold a hearing as to the available placement alternatives and consider the reports of the regional center director or designee and the developmental center director or designee submitted pursuant to Section 6504.5. After hearing all the evidence, the court shall order that the person be committed to that placement that the court finds to be the most appropriate alternative. If the court finds that release of the person can be made subject to conditions that the court deems proper and adequate for the protection and safety of others and the welfare of the person, the person shall be released subject to those conditions. The court, however, may commit a mentally retarded person who is not a resident of this state under Section 4460 for the purpose of transportation of the person to the state of his or her legal residence pursuant to Section 4461. The State Department of Developmental Services shall receive the person committed to it and shall place the person in the placement ordered by the court. (b) If the person has at any time been found mentally incompetent pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 1367) of Title 10 of Part 2 of the Penal Code arising out of a complaint charging a felony offense specified in Section 290 of the Penal Code, the court shall order the State Department of Developmental Services to give notice of that finding to the designated placement facility and the appropriate law enforcement agency or agencies having local jurisdiction at the site of the placement facility. (c) If the Department of Developmental Services decides that a change in placement is necessary, it shall notify in writing the court of commitment, the district attorney, and the attorney of record for the person and the regional center of its decision at least 15 days in advance of the proposed change in placement. The court may hold a hearing and (1) approve or disapprove of the change, or (2) take no action in which case the change shall be deemed approved. At the request of the district attorney or of the attorney for the person, a hearing shall be held. 6510. In case of the dismissal of the petition, the court may, if it considers the petition to have been filed with malicious intent, order the petitioner to pay the expenses in connection therewith, and may enforce such payment by such further orders as it deems necessary. 6511. Any person who knowingly contrives to have any person adjudged mentally retarded under the provisions of this article, unlawfully or improperly, is guilty of a misdemeanor. 6512. If, when a boy or girl is brought before a juvenile court under the juvenile court law, it appears to the court, either before or after adjudication, that the person is mentally retarded, or if, on the conviction of any person of crime by any court it appears to the court that the person is mentally retarded, the court may adjourn the proceedings or suspend the sentence, as the case may be, and direct some suitable person to take proceedings under this article against the person before the court, and the court may order that, pending the preparation, filing, and hearing of the petition, the person before the court be detained in a place of safety, or be placed under the guardianship of some suitable person, on his entering into a recognizance for the appearance of the person upon trial or under conviction when required. If, upon the hearing of the petition, or upon a subsequent hearing, the person upon trial or under conviction is not found to be mentally retarded, the court may proceed with the trial or impose sentence, as the case may be. 6513. (a) The State Department of Developmental Services shall pay for the costs, as defined in this section, of judicial proceedings, including commitment, placement, or release, under this article under both of the following conditions: (1) The judicial proceedings are in a county within which a state hospital or developmental center maintains a treatment program for mentally retarded persons who are a danger to themselves or others. (2) The judicial proceedings relate to a mentally retarded person who is at the time residing in the state hospital or developmental center located in the county of the proceedings. (b) The appropriate financial officer or other designated official in a county described in subdivision (a) may prepare a statement of all costs incurred by the county in the investigation, preparation for, and conduct of the proceeding, including any costs of the district attorney or county counsel and any public defender or court-appointed counsel representing the person, and including any costs incurred by the county for the guarding or keeping of the person while away from the state hospital and for transportation of the person to and from the hospital. The statement shall be certified to by a judge of the superior court and shall be sent to the State Department of Developmental Services. In lieu of sending statements after each proceeding, the statements may be held and submitted quarterly for the preceding three-month period.