§ 20-48-406 — Admission procedures

(a) (1) Upon receipt of the petition under § 20-48-405 , the Board of Developmental Disabilities Services shall make a determination as to whether or not a human development center then has adequate facilities and funds to properly care for, treat, and train the individual. If the board determines that no center currently has adequate facilities and funds, then the individual shall not be admitted to a center. If the board determines that the centers do have adequate facilities and funds to care for, treat, and train the individual and that the proposed admission would not crowd the centers beyond their maximum capacity, it shall cause an investigation to be made on the petition. (2) (A) The investigation shall include an examination of the individual through the use of standard mental and psychological tests and physical examinations by two (2) reputable physicians appointed or designated by the board for the purpose of determining the mental status and condition of the individual and whether or not the individual has or is a carrier of a contagious or infectious disease. (B) The investigation may also include one (1) or more examinations of the individual by psychologists, psychiatrists, and physicians designated by the board. (C) The board may proceed toward admission of the individual to the center in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) or subsection (c) of this section, whichever the board may deem proper in the particular case, but taking into consideration the request contained in the petition if the board determines from the investigation that: (i) The statements made in the petition are true and correct; (ii) The individual is eligible under the provisions of § 20-48-404 ; (iii) The individual neither has nor is a carrier of a contagious or infectious disease; and (iv) The individual is not suffering from psychosis of such nature and extent that a center could not properly and beneficially care for, treat, and train the individual with the facilities and program it then has. (b) The board may permit the voluntary admission of the individual to a center for such period of time as the board may deem necessary for the proper care, training, and education of the individual. The admission shall be by action of the board without the necessity of any court procedure. (c) (1) The board may determine that the individual should be admitted to a center by legal commitment only. In that event, the board shall file the petition for admission with the circuit court of the county in which the individual resides. There shall be filed with the court, along with the petition, such of the reports received by the board in the course of its investigation and examination as the board may deem necessary. (2) The court shall promptly set a time and place for a hearing on the petition. (3) The court may appoint one (1) or two (2) reputable physicians to examine the individual and report to the court the mental status of the individual and whether he or she is afflicted with or a carrier of a contagious or infectious disease, or it may adopt the report of the physician appointed by the board in the investigation of the individual as provided for in subsection (a) of this section. (4) Upon the hearing on the petition, the court shall determine whether or not the individual should be committed to a center for care, treatment, and training and shall enter an appropriate order in accordance with its determination.

Legislative History

Amended by Act 2019, No. 389,§ 63, eff. 7/24/2019. Acts 1955, No. 6, § 5; 1957, No. 349, § 2; A.S.A. 1947, § 59-1105; Acts 1997, No. 208, § 22; 2003, No. 1473, § 42.