Sec. 17a-502. (Formerly Sec. 17-183). Commitment under emergency certificate. Examination of patient. Discharge. Explanation of rights. Hearing. Order for detention to continue. Private hospitals'
Sec. 17a-502. (Formerly Sec. 17-183). Commitment under emergency certificate. Examination of patient. Discharge. Explanation of rights. Hearing. Order for
detention to continue. Private hospitals' notification to commissioner. Immediate
discharge of patient. Notification of next of kin. Prohibited commitments to chronic
disease hospitals. (a) Any person who a physician concludes has psychiatric disabilities
and is dangerous to himself or others or gravely disabled, and is in need of immediate
care and treatment in a hospital for psychiatric disabilities, may be confined in such a
hospital, either public or private, under an emergency certificate as hereinafter provided
for not more than fifteen days without order of any court, unless a written application
for commitment of such person has been filed in a probate court prior to the expiration
of the fifteen days, in which event such commitment is continued under the emergency
certificate for an additional fifteen days or until the completion of probate proceedings,
whichever occurs first. In no event shall such person be admitted to or detained at any
hospital, either public or private, for more than fifteen days after the execution of the
original emergency certificate, on the basis of a new emergency certificate executed at
any time during the person's confinement pursuant to the original emergency certificate;
and in no event shall more than one subsequent emergency certificate be issued within
fifteen days of the execution of the original certificate. If at the expiration of the fifteen
days a written application for commitment of such person has not been filed, such person
shall be discharged from the hospital. At the time of delivery of such person to such
hospital, there shall be left, with the person in charge thereof, a certificate, signed by a
physician licensed to practice medicine or surgery in Connecticut and dated not more
than three days prior to its delivery to the person in charge of the hospital. Such certificate
shall state the date of personal examination of the person to be confined, which shall
be not more than three days prior to the date of signature of the certificate, shall state
the findings of the physician relative to the physical and mental condition of the person
and the history of the case, if known, and shall state that it is the opinion of the physician
that the person examined has psychiatric disabilities and is dangerous to himself or
herself or others or gravely disabled and is in need of immediate care and treatment in
a hospital for psychiatric disabilities. Such physician shall state on such certificate the
reasons for his or her opinion.
(b) Any person admitted and detained under this section shall be examined by a
physician specializing in psychiatry not later than forty-eight hours after admission as
provided in section 17a-545, except that any person admitted and detained under this
section at a chronic disease hospital shall be so examined not later than thirty-six hours
after admission. If such physician is of the opinion that the person does not meet the
criteria for emergency detention and treatment, such person shall be immediately discharged. The physician shall enter the physician's findings in the patient's record.
(c) Any person admitted and detained under this section shall be promptly informed
by the admitting facility that such person has the right to consult an attorney, the right
to a hearing under subsection (d) of this section, and that if such a hearing is requested
or a probate application is filed, such person has the right to be represented by counsel,
and that counsel will be provided at the state's expense if the person is unable to pay
for such counsel. The reasonable compensation for counsel provided to persons unable
to pay shall be established by, and paid from funds appropriated to, the Judicial Department, however, if funds have not been included in the budget of the Judicial Department
for such purposes, such compensation shall be established by the Probate Court Administrator and paid from the Probate Court Administration Fund.
(d) If any person detained under this section, or his or her representative, requests
a hearing, in writing, such hearing shall be held within seventy-two hours of receipt of
such request, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. At such hearing, the person
shall have the right to be present, to cross-examine all witnesses testifying, and to be
represented by counsel as provided in section 17a-498. The hearing may be requested
at any time prior to the initiation of proceedings under section 17a-498. The hearing
shall be held by the court of probate having jurisdiction for commitment as provided in
section 17a-497, and the hospital shall immediately notify such court of any request for
a hearing by a person detained under this section. At the conclusion of the hearing, if
the court finds that there is probable cause to conclude that the person is subject to
involuntary confinement under this section, considering the condition of the respondent
at the time of the admission and at the time of the hearing, and the effects of medication,
if any, and the advisability of continued treatment based on testimony from the hospital
staff, the court shall order that such person's detention continue for the remaining time
provided for emergency certificates or until the completion of probate proceedings under
section 17a-498.
(e) The person in charge of every private hospital for psychiatric disabilities in the
state shall, on a quarterly basis, supply the Commissioner of Mental Health and Addiction Services, in writing with statistics that state for the preceding quarter, the number
of admissions of type and the number of discharges for that facility. Said commissioner
may adopt regulations to carry out the provisions of this subsection.
(f) The superintendent or director of any hospital for psychiatric disabilities shall
immediately discharge any patient admitted and detained under this section who is later
found not to meet the standards for emergency detention and treatment.
(g) Any person admitted and detained at any hospital for psychiatric disabilities
under this section shall, upon admission to such hospital, furnish the name of his or her
next of kin or close friend. The superintendent or director of such hospital shall notify
such next of kin or close friend of the admission of such patient and the discharge of
such patient, provided such patient consents, in writing, to such notification of his or
her discharge.
(h) No person, who a physician concludes has active suicidal or homicidal intent,
may be admitted to or detained at a chronic disease hospital under an emergency certificate issued pursuant to this section.
(i) For purposes of this section, "hospital" includes a licensed chronic disease hospital with a separate psychiatric unit.
(1949 Rev., S. 2649; 1953, 1955, S. 1492d; 1959, P.A. 454; 1967, P.A. 555, S. 68; 1971, P.A. 760, S. 2; June, 1971,
P.A. 7, S. 1; P.A. 76-227, S. 4, 7; P.A. 77-4, S. 1, 2; 77-595, S. 4, 9; P.A. 78-126, S. 2; P.A. 79-515, S. 4, 6; P.A. 80-189,
S. 1; P.A. 83-295, S. 20; P.A. 90-31, S. 1, 9; P.A. 95-257, S. 11, 48, 58; P.A. 96-170, S. 12, 23; P.A. 97-90, S. 5, 6; P.A.
00-196, S. 51; P.A. 07-49, S. 1; 07-252, S. 38.)
History: 1959 act added provision for emergency certificate, clarified language re prior complaint, added 60-day limitation for emergency confinement, and deleted requirements for notifying welfare commissioner of hospital admission and
his instituting proceedings for commitment; 1967 act distinguished drug-dependent from mentally ill persons; 1971 acts
allowed confinement of persons found by physician, rather than court, to be a danger to self or others for fifteen rather
than 30 days under emergency certificate; P.A. 76-227 allowed commitment of "gravely disabled" person under emergency
certificate, required that person be informed of right to examination by physician of his own choosing and generally clarified
provisions; P.A. 77-4 changed effective date of 1976 act from March 1, 1977, to October 1, 1977; P.A. 77-595 essentially
replaced previous provisions; P.A. 78-126 added Subsec. (g) re notification of next-of-kin; P.A. 79-515 replaced specific
conditions which court may find person suffering from with finding that person is "subject to involuntary confinement" and
finding as to advisability of continued treatment; P.A. 80-189 clarified limits on confinement under emergency certificate in
Subsec. (a); P.A. 83-295 amended Subsec. (c) to provide that the reasonable compensation for counsel provided to persons
unable to pay shall be established and paid by the judicial department; P.A. 90-31 amended Subsec. (c) by changing
compensation of counsel from funds appropriated to the judicial department to the probate administration fund in an amount
established by the probate court administrator; Sec. 17-183 transferred to Sec. 17a-502 in 1991; P.A. 95-257 replaced
Commissioner and Department of Mental Health with Commissioner and Department of Mental Health and Addiction
Services and replaced variants of "mental illness" and "mentally ill" with variants of "psychiatric disabilities", effective
July 1, 1995; P.A. 96-170 amended Subsec. (c) by changing funding of compensation of counsel from Probate Court
Administration Fund to funds appropriated to Judicial Department, unless funds not included in budget of Judicial Department for such purpose, effective July 1, 1998; P.A. 97-90 revised effective date of P.A. 96-170 but without affecting this
section; P.A. 00-196 made a technical change in Subsec. (b); P.A. 07-49 made technical changes in Subsecs. (b) to (e) and
(g), amended Subsec. (b) to require that person admitted to chronic disease hospital under emergency certificate be examined
not later than 24 hours after admission, added Subsec. (h) prohibiting admission of suicidal or homicidal person to chronic
disease hospital under emergency certificate and added Subsec. (i) defining "hospital"; P.A. 07-252 amended Subsec. (b)
to extend deadline for conducting examination of person committed to chronic disease hospital under emergency certificate
from 24 to 36 hours after admission.
See Secs. 17a-507, 21a-240.
Annotations to former section 17-183:
Cited. 123 C. 650. Cited. 139 C. 471. The validity of any detention effected under this section is circumscribed in time
and conditioned upon proper execution of a certificate by a physician licensed to practice in Connecticut. 144 C. 464.
Cited. 169 C. 13. Cited. 199 C. 609.
Cited. 14 CS 33. Probate court lacks jurisdiction over mental health commitment of children or youths; superior court
has jurisdiction pursuant to section 46b-121. 35 CS 241 et seq. Commitment order for minor was null and void since
probate court lacks jurisdiction to entertain and determine matters involving the mental health commitment of children or
youths. Id.
Annotation to present section:
Cited. 236 C. 625.