439-A - Transfers to certain institutions under the jurisdiction of the department of mental hygiene.
§ 439-a. Transfers to certain institutions under the jurisdiction of the department of mental hygiene. 1. Any person less than twenty-one years of age who is confined in an institution for the retarded in the department of correction may be transferred to a state school under the jurisdiction of the department of mental hygiene whenever it appears to the satisfaction of the commissioner of correction that such person will substantially benefit from care and treatment in such a state school and that the interests of the state will be best served thereby. Such a transfer may be made only upon written order of the commissioner of correction certifying the reasons therefor and upon the written consent and approval of the commissioner of mental hygiene and the commissioner of social services. Where any such transfer is ordered and approved as herein provided prior to the time such person is delivered to an institution for the retarded in the department of correction, the transfer shall be made directly from the institution in which the inmate is confined. 2. Each state institution to which a person is transferred as in this section provided shall, and it is hereby authorized to, receive, treat and otherwise care for such person in the same manner as other persons certified to such institution. 3. A person so transferred shall continue to be under the general care and supervision of the department of correction, except that he shall be temporarily cared for and treated in the institution to which the transfer is made. While in such latter institution he shall be subject to the laws and rules appertaining thereto, except that his parole and discharge shall continue to be governed by the laws and rules appertaining to the institution from which he was transferred. 4. The term of detention or confinement of a person transferred in accordance with the provisions of this section shall not be extended or increased by reason of any such transfer. 5. Whenever it is found that the confinement of any person in an institution to which he shall have been transferred as hereinbefore in this section provided is no longer suitable, for any reason, and the commissioner of mental hygiene shall so certify to the commissioner of correction, such person so transferred shall be forthwith returned by the director or other official in charge of the institution in which he is confined to the institution from which he was transferred. 6. All expenses incident to a transfer under this section shall be borne by the department from which the transfer is made.