Ohio § 5122.26 Patient absent without leave

Ohio Statutes

§ 5122.26 — Patient absent without leave

Ohio § 5122.26

Title 51Public Welfare

Ch. 5122Hospitalization of Mentally Ill

This text of Ohio § 5122.26 (Patient absent without leave) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 5122.26 (2026).

Text

(A)If a patient is absent without leave, on a verbal or written order issued within five days of the time of the unauthorized absence by the department of behavioral health, the chief clinical officer of the hospital from which the patient is absent without leave, or the court of either the county from which the patient was committed or in which the patient is found, any health or police officer or sheriff may take the patient into custody and transport the patient to the hospital in which the patient was hospitalized or to a place that is designated in the order. The officer immediately shall report such fact to the entity that issued the order. The chief clinical officer of a hospital may discharge a patient who is under an indictment, a sentence of imprisonment, a community control sa

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(A) If a patient is absent without leave, on a verbal or written order issued within five days of the time of the unauthorized absence by the department of behavioral health, the chief clinical officer of the hospital from which the patient is absent without leave, or the court of either the county from which the patient was committed or in which the patient is found, any health or police officer or sheriff may take the patient into custody and transport the patient to the hospital in which the patient was hospitalized or to a place that is designated in the order. The officer immediately shall report such fact to the entity that issued the order.

The chief clinical officer of a hospital may discharge a patient who is under an indictment, a sentence of imprisonment, a community control sanction, or a post-release control sanction or on parole and who has been absent without leave for more than thirty days but shall give written notice of the discharge to the court with criminal jurisdiction over the patient. The chief clinical officer of a hospital may discharge any other patient who has been absent without leave for more than fourteen days.

The chief clinical officer shall take all proper measures for the apprehension of an escaped patient. The expense of the return of an escaped patient shall be borne by the hospital where the patient is hospitalized.

(B)(1) Subject to division (B)(2) of this section, no patient hospitalized under Chapter 5122. of the Revised Code whose absence without leave was caused or contributed to by the patient's mental illness shall be subject to a charge of escape.

(2) Division (B)(1) of this section does not apply to any person who was hospitalized, institutionalized, or confined in a facility under an order made pursuant to or under authority of section2945.37,2945.371,2945.38,2945.39,2945.40,2945.401, or2945.402of the Revised Code and who escapes from the facility, from confinement in a vehicle for transportation to or from the facility, or from supervision by an employee of the facility that is incidental to hospitalization, institutionalization, or confinement in the facility and that occurs outside the facility, in violation of section2921.34of the Revised Code.

Last updated August 14, 2025 at 10:30 AM