125.91 - EMERGENCY DETENTION.

        125.91  EMERGENCY DETENTION.
         1.  The procedure prescribed by this section shall only be used
      for an intoxicated person who has threatened, attempted, or inflicted
      physical self-harm or harm on another, and is likely to inflict
      physical self-harm or harm on another unless immediately detained, or
      who is incapacitated by a chemical substance, if that person cannot
      be taken into immediate custody under sections 125.75 and 125.81
      because immediate access to the court is not possible.
         2. a.  A peace officer who has reasonable grounds to believe
      that the circumstances described in subsection 1 are applicable may,
      without a warrant, take or cause that person to be taken to the
      nearest available facility referred to in section 125.81, subsection
      2, paragraph "b" or "c".  Such an intoxicated or
      incapacitated person may also be delivered to a facility by someone
      other than a peace officer upon a showing of reasonable grounds.
      Upon delivery of the person to a facility under this section, the
      examining physician may order treatment of the person, but only to
      the extent necessary to preserve the person's life or to
      appropriately control the person's behavior if the behavior is likely
      to result in physical injury to the person or others if allowed to
      continue.  The peace officer or other person who delivered the person
      to the facility shall describe the circumstances of the matter to the
      examining physician.  If the person is a peace officer, the peace
      officer may do so either in person or by written report.  If the
      examining physician has reasonable grounds to believe that the
      circumstances in subsection 1 are applicable, the examining physician
      shall at once communicate with the nearest available magistrate as
      defined in section 801.4, subsection 10.  The magistrate shall, based
      upon the circumstances described by the examining physician, give the
      examining physician oral instructions either directing that the
      person be released forthwith, or authorizing the person's detention
      in an appropriate facility.  The magistrate may also give oral
      instructions and order that the detained person be transported to an
      appropriate facility.
         b.  If the magistrate orders that the person be detained, the
      magistrate shall, by the close of business on the next working day,
      file a written order with the clerk in the county where it is
      anticipated that an application may be filed under section 125.75.
      The order may be filed by facsimile if necessary.  The order shall
      state the circumstances under which the person was taken into custody
      or otherwise brought to a facility and the grounds supporting the
      finding of probable cause to believe that the person is a chronic
      substance abuser likely to result in physical injury to the person or
      others if not detained.  The order shall confirm the oral order
      authorizing the person's detention including any order given to
      transport the person to an appropriate facility.  The clerk shall
      provide a copy of that order to the chief medical officer of the
      facility to which the person was originally taken, any subsequent
      facility to which the person was transported, and to any law
      enforcement department or ambulance service that transported the
      person pursuant to the magistrate's order.
         3.  The chief medical officer of the facility shall examine and
      may detain the person pursuant to the magistrate's order for a period
      not to exceed forty-eight hours from the time the order is dated,
      excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, unless the order is
      dismissed by a magistrate.  The facility may provide treatment which
      is necessary to preserve the person's life or to appropriately
      control the person's behavior if the behavior is likely to result in
      physical injury to the person or others if allowed to continue or is
      otherwise deemed medically necessary by the chief medical officer,
      but shall not otherwise provide treatment to the person without the
      person's consent.  The person shall be discharged from the facility
      and released from detention no later than the expiration of the
      forty-eight-hour period, unless an application for involuntary
      commitment is filed with the clerk pursuant to section 125.75.  The
      detention of a person by the procedure in this section, and not in
      excess of the period of time prescribed by this section, shall not
      render the peace officer, physician, or facility detaining the person
      liable in a criminal or civil action for false arrest or false
      imprisonment if the peace officer, physician, or facility had
      reasonable grounds to believe that the circumstances described in
      subsection 1 were applicable.
         4.  The cost of detention in a facility under the procedure
      prescribed in this section shall be paid in the same way as if the
      person had been committed to the facility pursuant to an application
      filed under section 125.75.  
         Section History: Early Form
         [C75, 77, § 125.17, 125.18; C79, 81, § 125.34(4), 125.35; 82 Acts,
      ch 1212, § 19] 
         Section History: Recent Form
         90 Acts, ch 1085, § 19; 2003 Acts, ch 68, §1, 2; 2009 Acts, ch 41,
      §188
         Referred to in § 125.12, 125.34, 125.44, 125.92, 229.21, 602.6405