COLORADO
§ 27-10-105. Emergency procedure
(1) Emergency procedure may be invoked under either one of the
following two conditions:
(a) When any person
appears to be mentally ill and, as a result of such mental illness, appears to
be an imminent danger to others or to himself or herself or appears to be
gravely disabled, then a peace officer; a professional person; a registered
professional nurse as defined in section 12-38-103(11), C.R.S., who by reason of postgraduate education and additional nursing
preparation has gained knowledge, judgment, and skill in psychiatric or mental
health nursing; a licensed marriage and family therapist or licensed
professional counselor, licensed under the provisions of part 5 or 6 of article 43 of title 12, C.R.S.,
who by reason of postgraduate education and additional preparation has gained
knowledge, judgment, and skill in psychiatric or clinical mental health
therapy, forensic psychotherapy, or the evaluation of mental disorders; or a
licensed clinical social worker licensed under the provisions of part 4 of article
43 of title 12, C.R.S., each of whom is referred to
in this section as the "intervening professional", upon probable
cause and with such assistance as may be required, may take the person into
custody, or cause the person to be taken into custody, and placed in a facility
designated or approved by the executive director for a seventy-two-hour
treatment and evaluation.
(b) Upon an affidavit sworn to or affirmed before a judge which
relates sufficient facts to establish that a person appears to be mentally ill
and, as a result of such mental illness, appears to be an imminent danger to
others or to himself or appears to be gravely disabled, the court may order the
person described in the affidavit to be taken into custody and placed in a
facility designated or approved by the executive director for a
seventy-two-hour treatment and evaluation. Whenever in this article a facility
is to be designated or approved by the executive director, hospitals, if
available, shall be approved or designated in each county before other
facilities are approved or designated. Whenever in this article a facility is
to be designated or approved by the executive director as a facility for a
stated purpose and the facility to be designated or approved is a private
facility, the consent of the private facility to the enforcement of standards
set by the executive director shall be a prerequisite to the designation or
approval.
(1.1) When a person is taken into custody pursuant to subsection
(1) of this section, such person shall not be detained in a jail, lockup, or
other place used for the confinement of persons charged with or convicted of
penal offenses; except that such place may be used if no other suitable place
of confinement for treatment and evaluation is readily available. In such
situation the person shall be detained separately from those persons charged
with or convicted of penal offenses and shall be held for a period not to
exceed twenty-four hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, after
which time he shall be transferred to a facility designated or approved by the
executive director for a seventy-two-hour treatment and evaluation. When a
person is taken into custody and confined pursuant to this subsection (1.1),
such person shall be examined at least every twelve hours by a peace officer,
nurse, or physician or by an appropriate staff professional of the nearest
designated or approved mental health treatment facility to determine if the
person is receiving appropriate care consistent with his mental condition.
(2) Such facility shall require an application in writing, stating
the circumstances under which the person's condition was called to the
attention of the intervening professional and further stating sufficient facts,
obtained from the personal observations of the intervening professional or
obtained from others whom he or she reasonably believes to be reliable, to
establish that the person is mentally ill and, as a result of mental illness,
an imminent danger to others or to such person or gravely disabled. The
application shall indicate when the person was taken into custody and who
brought the person's condition to the attention of the intervening
professional. The application shall be kept on file by the seventy-two-hour
treatment and evaluation facility for at least five years, and a copy shall be
furnished to the person being evaluated.
(3) If the seventy-two-hour treatment and evaluation facility
admits the person, it may detain him for evaluation and
treatment for a period not to exceed seventy-two hours, excluding Saturdays,
Sundays, and holidays if evaluation and treatment services are not available on
those days. For the purposes of this subsection (3), evaluation and treatment
services are not deemed to be available merely because a professional person is
on call during weekends or holidays. If, in the opinion of the professional
person in charge of the evaluation, the person can be properly cared for
without being detained, he shall be provided services on a voluntary basis.
(4) Each person admitted to a seventy-two-hour treatment and
evaluation facility under the provisions of this article shall receive an
evaluation as soon after he is admitted as possible and shall receive such
treatment and care as his condition requires for the full period that he is
held. Such person shall be released before seventy-two hours have elapsed if,
in the opinion of the professional person in charge of the evaluation, the
person no longer requires evaluation or treatment. Persons who have been
detained for seventy- two-hour evaluation and treatment shall be released,
referred for further care and treatment on a voluntary basis, or certified for
treatment pursuant to section
27-10-107.
CASES
_ People
in Interest of Lynch 783 P.2d 848 Colo.,1989.