§ 2212 — Commitment; judicial proceedings

(a) Not more than 2 working days after the date a patient is admitted to a licensed treatment facility or program under a request for involuntary treatment, the administrator of the treatment facility, through the Attorney General, shall file a petition for involuntary commitment to a licensed treatment facility, supported by affidavit with the Court, unless the patient is discharged or admitted on a voluntary basis. The petition shall state that the administrator, as petitioner, based upon an evaluation by a physician, reasonably and in good faith believes that the involuntary patient (who shall be named as respondent) is a person in need of treatment who should be continued as a patient at the facility pursuant to this chapter until the patient is determined no longer to be in need of treatment at the treatment facility or program. The petition shall also state that the involuntary patient has been advised of the patient’s procedural and substantive rights under this chapter. A copy of supporting certificates by an examining physician shall be attached to the petition.

(b) Upon the filing of a petition, the facility may continue to treat the patient as medically necessary and appropriate on an involuntary basis pending a judicial hearing on the petition.

(c) The petition shall indicate the facility’s reasonable belief, based upon investigation, as to whether the involuntary patient is able to afford counsel and an independent expert witness.

Legislative History

73 Del. Laws, c. 358, § 2