§ 27-65-109 — Certification for short-term treatment - procedure

Colorado § 27-65-109

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 27: Behavioral
• Art.: Care and Treatment of Persons

Text

(1) A person
may be certified for not more than three months for short-term treatment under the
following conditions:

(a) The professional staff of the facility detaining the person on an
emergency mental health hold has evaluated the person and has found the person
has a mental health disorder and, as a result of the mental health disorder, is a
danger to the person's self or others or is gravely disabled;

(b) The person has been advised of the availability of, but has not accepted,
voluntary treatment; but, if reasonable grounds exist to believe that the person will
not remain in a voluntary treatment program, the person's acceptance of voluntary
treatment does not preclude certification;

(c) The facility or community provider that will provide short-term treatment
has been designated by the commissioner to provide such treatment; and

(d) The person, the person's legal guardian, and the person's lay person, if
applicable, have been advised of the person's right to an attorney and to contest
the certification for short-term treatment.

(2) The notice of certification must be signed by a professional person who
participated in the evaluation. The notice of certification must:

(a) State facts sufficient to establish reasonable grounds to believe that the
respondent has a mental health disorder and, as a result of the mental health
disorder, is a danger to the respondent's self or others or is gravely disabled;

(b) Be filed with the court within forty-eight hours, excluding Saturdays,
Sundays, and court holidays, after the date of certification;

(c) Be filed with the court in the county in which the respondent resided or
was physically present immediately prior to being taken into custody; and

(d) Provide recommendations if the certification should take place on an
inpatient or outpatient basis.

(3) Within twenty-four hours after certification, copies of the certification
must be personally delivered to the respondent, the BHA, and a copy must be kept
by the evaluating facility as part of the respondent's record, if applicable. The
facility or court shall ask the respondent to designate a lay person whom the
respondent wishes to be informed regarding certification. If the respondent is
incapable of making such a designation at the time the certification is delivered, the
respondent must be asked to designate a lay person as soon as the respondent is
capable. In addition to the copy of the certification, the respondent must be given a
written notice that a hearing upon the respondent's certification for short-term
treatment may be had before the court or a jury upon written request directed to
the court pursuant to subsection (6) of this section.

(4) Upon certification of the respondent, the facility designated for short-term treatment has custody of the respondent.

(5) Whenever a certification is filed with the court by a professional person,
the court shall immediately appoint an attorney to represent the respondent. The
respondent has the right to an attorney for all proceedings conducted pursuant to
this section, including any appeals. The attorney representing the respondent must
be provided with a copy of the certification immediately upon the attorney's
appointment. The respondent may only waive counsel when the respondent makes
a knowing and intelligent waiver in front of the court.

(6) The respondent or the respondent's attorney may at any time file a
written request that the certification for short-term treatment or the treatment be
reviewed by the court or that the treatment be on an outpatient basis. If review is
requested, the court shall hear the matter within ten days after the request, and the
court shall give notice to the respondent and the respondent's attorney and the
certifying and treating professional person of the time and place of the hearing. The
hearing must be held in accordance with section 27-65-113. At the conclusion of the
hearing, the court may enter or confirm the certification for short-term treatment,
discharge the respondent, or enter any other appropriate order.

(7) Records and papers in proceedings pursuant to this section must be
maintained separately by the clerks of the several courts. Upon the release of any
respondent in accordance with section 27-65-112, the facility shall notify the clerk
of the court within five days after the release, and the clerk shall immediately seal
the record in the case and omit the name of the respondent from the index of cases
in the court until and unless the respondent becomes subject to an order of
certification for long-term care and treatment pursuant to section 27-65-110 or
until and unless the court orders the records opened for good cause shown. In the
event a petition is filed pursuant to section 27-65-110, the certification record may
be opened and become a part of the record in the long-term care and treatment
case and the name of the respondent indexed.

(8) Whenever it appears to the court, by reason of a report by the treating
professional person or the BHA or any other report satisfactory to the court, that a
respondent detained for evaluation and treatment or certified for short-term
treatment should be transferred to another facility for treatment and the safety of
the respondent or the public requires that the respondent be transported by a
secure transportation provider or a law enforcement agency, the court may issue an
order directing the law enforcement agency where the respondent resides or
secure transportation provider to deliver the respondent to the designated facility.

(9) A respondent certified for short-term treatment may be discharged upon
the signature of the treating medical professional and the medical director of the
facility. A respondent certified for short-term treatment on an outpatient basis may
be discharged upon the signature of the approved professional person overseeing
the respondent's treatment, and the professional person shall notify the BHA prior
to the discharge. A facility or program shall make the respondent's discharge
instructions available to the respondent, the respondent's attorney, and the
respondent's legal guardian, if applicable, within seven days after discharge, if
requested. A facility or program that is transferring a respondent to a different
treatment facility or to an outpatient provider shall provide all treatment records to
the facility or provider accepting the respondent at least twenty-four hours prior to
the transfer.

(10) If the professional person in charge of the evaluation and treatment
believes that a period longer than three months is necessary to treat the
respondent, the professional person shall file with the court an extended
certification at least thirty days prior to the expiration date of the original
certification. An extended certification for treatment must not be for a period of
more than three months. The respondent is entitled to a hearing on the extended
certification under the same conditions as an original certification. The attorney
initially representing the respondent shall continue to represent the respondent,
unless the court appoints another attorney.

Legislative History

Source: L. 2022: (1)(c) amended, (HB 22-1278), ch. 222, p. 1540, � 117, effective July 1; entire article amended with relocations, (HB 22-1256), ch. 451, p. 3186, � 1, effective August 10; (1), (2), (3), (6), (7), (8), and (10) amended, (HB 22-1256), ch. 451, p. 3217, � 3, effective July 1, 2024.