33-6-702 - Request for current examination of mental condition Payment.
33-6-702. Request for current examination of mental condition Payment.
Any person hospitalized under a court order obtained under chapter 6, part 5 of this title, or the person's attorney, parent, legal guardian, legal custodian, conservator, spouse or adult next of kin, shall be entitled, upon the expiration of ninety (90) days following the order and not more frequently than every six (6) months thereafter, to request, in writing, the chief officer of the hospital in which the person is hospitalized to have a current examination of the person's mental condition made by one (1) or more physicians. If the request is timely, it shall be granted. The person shall be entitled at the person's own expense to have a licensed physician not connected with the hospital to participate in the examination. If the person is indigent, is in a department facility, and makes a written request for examination, with the approval of the commissioner, the department shall assist the person in obtaining a licensed physician to participate in the examination in the person's behalf. A physician so obtained by the indigent person shall be compensated for services out of unobligated funds of the department in an amount the department determines to be fair and reasonable.
[Acts 1965, ch. 38, § 46; 1974, ch. 464, § 3; 1975, ch. 248, §§ 1, 18; 1982, ch. 862, §§ 9, 10; T.C.A., § 33-609; Acts 1996, ch. 1079, § 63; T.C.A., § 33-6-108(b)(1); Acts 2000, ch. 947, § 1.]