§ 44-9-10 — Creation of Office of Mental Health; jurisdiction.

There is hereby created the Office of Mental Health, a component office of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. The office shall have jurisdiction over all of the state's mental hospitals, clinics and centers, joint state and community sponsored mental health clinics and centers and facilities for the treatment and care of alcohol and drug addicts, including the authority to name each facility. The office shall be headed by an office director appointed by the Director of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities pursuant to Section 44-12-50(B)(1). The office director must be a person of proven executive and administrative ability with appropriate education and substantial experience in the field of mental illness treatment.

Legislative History

HISTORY: 1962 Code SECTION 32-917; 1964 (53) 2078; 1969 (56) 653; 2025 Act No. 3 (S.2), SECTION 12, eff April 28, 2025. Code Commissioner's Note At the direction of the Code Commissioner, certain references in the S.C. Code to the State Department of Mental Health, South Carolina Mental Health Commission, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs Commission, Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, and other related terms were changed to reflect the restructuring of these agencies into component offices under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, pursuant to 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 18. Effect of Amendment 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 12, substituted "Office of Mental Health, a component office of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. The office" for "State Department of Mental Health, which"; and added the last two sentences.