§ 33-8-310 — Counsel required for hearing

(a) The court hearing upon a petition under §§ 33-8-305 - 33-8-313 shall be held within seven (7) calendar days of the filing of the petition. Upon the filing of the petition, the court shall appoint counsel to represent the child at the hearings, unless the child already has an attorney due to a pending commitment under chapter 6, part 5 of this title. The petition shall be served personally upon both the child and the child's attorney. (b) The child's attorney shall not in any case be a person who has previously advised the parties seeking authorization to administer electroconvulsive therapy or other convulsive therapy, nor shall the attorney be a person who has previously advised the child's parents, the parent's business, the child's legal guardian, or the legal guardian's business. (c) The court-appointed independent psychiatrist or the child psychiatrist whose affidavit accompanied a petition filed under § 33-8-309 shall be a witness at the hearing. The child psychiatrist's testimony may be used in place of a court-appointed independent psychiatrist. The psychiatrist's testimony shall not be regarded as conclusive, and the court shall consider any other evidence, including other expert testimony, offered in opposition to the authorization of the therapy.

Legislative History

Acts 1976, ch. 489, § 1; 1978, ch. 877, §§ 1, 2; T.C.A., §§ 33-320, 33-3-201(d), (g)(3); Acts 2000, ch. 947, §§ 1, 6.