In Re KP

2003 ND 114, 665 N.W.2d 65, 2003 WL 21664842
CourtNorth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 16, 2003
Docket20030175
StatusPublished

This text of 2003 ND 114 (In Re KP) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering North Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re KP, 2003 ND 114, 665 N.W.2d 65, 2003 WL 21664842 (N.D. 2003).

Opinion

665 N.W.2d 65 (2003)
2003 ND 114

In the Interest of K.P.
N.C. Trinidad, M.D., Petitioner and Appellee,
v.
K.P., Respondent and Appellant.

No. 20030175.

Supreme Court of North Dakota.

July 16, 2003.

*66 Thomas E. Merrick, Jamestown, ND, for respondent and appellant.

Leo A. Ryan, Special Assistant Attorney General, Jamestown, ND, for petitioner and appellee.

MARING, Justice.

[¶ 1] K.P. appeals from the May 16, 2003, order terminating the April 3, 2003, order for alternative treatment and directing K.P. be hospitalized until March 20, 2004. We affirm.

I

[¶ 2] On January 13, 2003, the district court ordered that K.P. be hospitalized and treated at the North Dakota State Hospital for 90 days. On March 18, 2003, a petition for continuing treatment was filed stating K.P.'s behavior had improved with current medications, K.P. was compliant with taking her medications, and K.P. was attending group therapy. The petition requested K.P. be released from the state hospital and, instead, undergo outpatient treatment with the Southeast Human Service Center ("SEHSC"). K.P. waived the right to a continuing treatment hearing, and on March 24, 2003, the district court ordered alternative treatment requiring that K.P. undergo outpatient treatment *67 at the SEHSC rather than hospitalization. The outpatient treatment at the SEHSC included medication monitoring, case management, psychiatric appointments, and vocational rehabilitation.

[¶ 3] On March 28, 2003, K.P. was readmitted to the state hospital after the SEHSC filed an application for emergency admission. In the application, the SEHSC stated K.P. had not been medication compliant since March 24, 2003, and had missed two appointments at the SEHSC. The application also described how K.P.'s family had called the SEHSC several times reporting that K.P. was isolating herself, was making phone calls at inappropriate times, and was paranoid and blaming. The application concluded that due to K.P.'s history, K.P. was considered to be a danger to herself or others.

[¶ 4] A hearing was held on April 2, 2003, to determine if the alternative treatment order required modification. On April 2, 2003, the district court entered an order requiring that K.P. be hospitalized until March 20, 2004. On April 3, 2003, the order was amended to correct the end date of the hospitalization to be until May 2, 2003. After that date, K.P. was to continue alternative outpatient treatment with the SEHSC until March 20, 2004. The alternative outpatient treatment was to consist of medication monitoring, psychiatric appointments, case management, and vocational rehabilitation.

[¶ 5] Another application to modify the alternative treatment order was filed on April 24, 2003. K.P. moved to dismiss the application because the same issues had been litigated at the April 2, 2003, hearing. After a hearing on April 29, 2003, the district court dismissed the application for modification.

[¶ 6] K.P. was released from the state hospital on Friday, May 2, 2003. K.P. was taken to the SEHSC and was given a two-day supply of medicine to get through the weekend. K.P. was then taken to her apartment. Arrangements were made for a SEHSC staff member to pick up K.P. at her apartment on Monday morning, May 5, 2003, and to transport K.P. to the SEHSC for her daily medication. When the SEHSC staff member arrived on Monday morning, K.P. would not come out of her apartment and refused to let the staff member inside. K.P. called the police indicating there was an intruder trying to break into her apartment. When the police arrived, K.P. would still not let anyone inside her apartment.

[¶ 7] SEHSC staff members decided to file an emergency application to get K.P. re-hospitalized because of K.P.'s non-compliance with the alternative treatment order and because she was a risk to herself or others. After being called by the SEHSC, the sheriff arrived and entered K.P.'s apartment. K.P. was found in the bathroom with a steak knife sitting on the sink next to her. K.P. threatened the SEHSC staff members and law enforcement officers who were present. K.P. was removed from the apartment and placed in the sheriff's vehicle for transport to the emergency room. While in the back seat, K.P. lit a match that had been in her coat pocket, burning a small hole in the seat. The emergency room records indicate K.P. also threatened the emergency room staff. K.P. was medicated and taken to the state hospital.

[¶ 8] A modification hearing was held on May 15, 2003. The district court found K.P. had not complied with the alternative treatment order and the alternative treatment order was not sufficient to prevent K.P. from harming herself or others. On May 16, 2003, the district court ordered the alternative treatment order terminated and K.P. hospitalized until March 20, 2004. K.P. appeals.

*68 II

[¶ 9] On appeal, K.P. argues that to modify an alternative treatment order due to lack of compliance with the order, the district court must find willful non-compliance. Because the district court did not find that K.P. was willful in her non-compliance with the alternative treatment order, K.P. asserts the district court erred by modifying the alternative treatment order. K.P. also argues that to modify an alternative treatment order on the basis of harm to the patient or another person, actual harm must be shown. K.P. asserts that because she did not actually harm or injure either herself or another person, the district court erred by modifying the alternative treatment order. We disagree with K.P.'s arguments.

III

[¶ 10] Section 25-03.1-21(3), N.D.C.C., sets forth the procedure to be followed when the emergency detention of a patient is required. Neither party disputes the district court's finding of clear and convincing evidence to support K.P.'s emergency detention under N.D.C.C. § 25-03.1-21(3). Rather, K.P. challenges the modification of her alternative treatment order under N.D.C.C. § 25-03.1-21(2) which provides:

If the respondent is not complying with the alternative treatment order or the alternative treatment has not been sufficient to prevent harm or injuries that the individual may be inflicting upon the individual or others, the department, a representative of the treatment program involved in the alternative treatment order, the petitioner's retained attorney, or the state's attorney may apply to the court or to the district court of a different judicial district in which the respondent is located to modify the alternative treatment order. The court shall hold a hearing within seven days after the application is filed. Based upon the evidence presented at hearing and other available information, the court may:
a. Continue the alternative treatment order;
b. Consider other alternatives to hospitalization, modify the court's original order, and direct the individual to undergo another program of alternative treatment for the remainder of the ninety-day period; or
c. Enter a new order directing that the individual be hospitalized until discharged from the hospital under section 25-03.1-30. If the individual refuses to comply with this hospitalization order, the court may direct a peace officer to take the individual into protective custody and transport the respondent to a treatment facility.

[¶ 11] Under N.D.C.C. § 25-03.1-21(2), before the district court can modify K.P.'s alternative treatment order and require hospitalization, it must find either: (1) K.P.

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Trinidad v. K.P.
2003 ND 114 (North Dakota Supreme Court, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2003 ND 114, 665 N.W.2d 65, 2003 WL 21664842, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-kp-nd-2003.