§ 125.91 — Emergency detention

Iowa § 125.91

• Jurisdiction: Iowa
• Title IV: PUBLIC HEALTH
• Ch. 125: SUBSTANCE USE DISORDERS

Text

1. The procedure prescribed by this section shall only be used for a person with a
substance use disorder due to intoxication or substance-induced incapacitation who has
threatened, attempted, or inflicted physical self-harm or harm on another, and is likely
to inflict physical self-harm or harm on another unless immediately detained, or who is
incapacitated by a chemical substance, if an application has not been filed naming the
person as the respondent pursuant to section 125.75 and the person cannot be ordered into
immediate custody and detained pursuant to section 125.81.
2. a. A peace officer who has reasonable grounds to believe that the circumstances
described in subsection 1 are applicable may, without a warrant, take or cause that person
to be taken to the nearest available facility referred to in section 125.81, subsection 2,
paragraph “b” or “c”. Such a person with a substance use disorder due to intoxication or
substance-induced incapacitation who also demonstrates a significant degree of distress
or dysfunction may also be delivered to a facility by someone other than a peace officer
upon a showing of reasonable grounds. Upon delivery of the person to a facility under this
section, the attending physician and surgeon or osteopathic physician and surgeon may
order treatment of the person, but only to the extent necessary to preserve the person’s life
or to appropriately control the person’s behavior if the behavior is likely to result in physical
injury to the person or others if allowed to continue. The peace officer or other person who
delivered the person to the facility shall describe the circumstances of the matter to the
attending physician and surgeon or osteopathic physician and surgeon. If the person is a
peace officer, the peace officer may do so either in person or by written report.
b. If the attending physician and surgeon or osteopathic physician and surgeon has
reasonable grounds to believe that the circumstances in subsection 1 are applicable, the
facility shall have the authority to detain the person for a period of no longer than twelve
hours. Within twelve hours of detaining a person pursuant to this section, the attending
physician shall communicate with the nearest available magistrate.
c. Once contacted pursuant to paragraph “b”, the magistrate shall, based upon the
circumstances described by the attending physician and surgeon or osteopathic physician
and surgeon, give the attending physician and surgeon or osteopathic physician and surgeon
oral instructions either directing that the person be released forthwith, or authorizing the
person’s detention in an appropriate facility. The magistrate may also give oral instructions
and order that the detained person be transported to an appropriate facility.
d. If the magistrate orders that the person be detained, the magistrate shall, by the close
of business on the next working day, file a written order with the clerk in the county where it
is anticipated that an application may be filed under section 125.75. The order may be filed by

facsimile if necessary. The order shall state the circumstances under which the person was
taken into custody or otherwise brought to a facility and the grounds supporting the finding
of probable cause to believe that the person is a person with a substance use disorder likely
to result in physical injury to the person or others if not detained. The order shall confirm
the oral order authorizing the person’s detention including any order given to transport the
person to an appropriate facility. The clerk shall provide a copy of that order to the attending
physicianandsurgeonorosteopathicphysicianandsurgeonatthefacilitytowhichtheperson
was originally taken, any subsequent facility to which the person was transported, and to any
law enforcement department or ambulance service that transported the person pursuant to
the magistrate’s order.
3. The attending physician and surgeon or osteopathic physician and surgeon shall
examine and may detain the person pursuant to the magistrate’s order for a period not to
exceed forty-eight hours from the time the order is dated, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and
holidays, unless the order is dismissed by a magistrate. The facility may provide treatment
which is necessary to preserve the person’s life or to appropriately control the person’s
behavior if the behavior is likely to result in physical injury to the person or others if allowed
to continue or is otherwise deemed medically necessary by the attending physician and
surgeon or osteopathic physician and surgeon or mental health professional, but shall not
otherwise provide treatment to the person without the person’s consent. The person shall
be discharged from the facility and released from detention no later than the expiration of
the forty-eight-hour period, unless an application for involuntary commitment is filed with
the clerk pursuant to section 125.75. The detention of a person by the procedure in this
section, and not in excess of the period of time prescribed by this section, shall not render
the peace officer, attending physician and surgeon or osteopathic physician and surgeon,
or facility detaining the person liable in a criminal or civil action for false arrest or false
imprisonment if the peace officer, attending physician and surgeon or osteopathic physician
and surgeon, mental health professional, or facility had reasonable grounds to believe that
the circumstances described in subsection 1 were applicable.
4. The cost of detention in a facility under the procedure prescribed in this section shall
be paid in the same way as if the person had been committed to the facility pursuant to an
application filed under section 125.75.

Legislative History

[C75, 77, §125.17, 125.18; C79, 81, §125.34(4), 125.35; 82 Acts, ch 1212, §19]