H.B. No. 518
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the detention and examination of certain persons for
  whom an application for emergency detention or a motion for an order
  of protective custody has been filed.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Sections 573.021(b) and (c), Health and Safety
  Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (b)  A person accepted for a preliminary examination may be
  detained in custody for not longer than 48 [24] hours after the time
  the person is presented to the facility unless a written order for
  protective custody [further detention] is obtained. The 48-hour
  [24-hour] period allowed by this section includes any time the
  patient spends waiting in the facility for medical care before the
  person receives the preliminary examination. [The period does not
  include any time during which the person is actually receiving
  necessary medical care in the facility's emergency room or
  emergency care in another area of the facility.] If the 48-hour
  [24-hour] period ends on a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or
  before 4 p.m. on the first succeeding business day, the person may
  be detained until 12 [4] p.m. on the first succeeding business day.
  If the 48-hour period ends at a different time, the person may be
  detained only until 4 p.m. on the day the 48-hour period ends.  If
  extremely hazardous weather conditions exist or a disaster occurs,
  the presiding judge or magistrate may, by written order made each
  day, extend by an additional 24 hours the period during which the
  person may be detained. The written order must declare that an
  emergency exists because of the weather or the occurrence of a
  disaster.
         (c)  A physician shall examine the person as soon as possible
  within 12 [24] hours after the time the person is apprehended by the
  peace officer or transported for emergency detention by the
  person's guardian.
         SECTION 2.  Section 574.021(d), Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (d)  The motion must be accompanied by a certificate of
  medical examination for mental illness prepared by a physician who
  has examined the proposed patient not earlier than the third
  [fifth] day before the day the motion is filed.
         SECTION 3.  (a)  The Department of State Health Services
  shall conduct a study of the effects the change in law made by this
  Act has on:
               (1)  reducing the overall number of admissions to state
  mental health facilities; and
               (2)  the number of admissions of persons to state
  mental health facilities for periods of less than 96 hours.
         (b)  The Department of State Health Services shall include in
  a report on the conclusions of the study information concerning
  relevant admissions to state mental health facilities:
               (1)  during the 24-month period preceding the effective
  date of this Act; and
               (2)  during the 12-month period following the effective
  date of this Act.
         (c)  Not later than December 31, 2008, the Department of
  State Health Services shall provide the report on the study's
  conclusions to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker
  of the house of representatives, and the presiding officers of the
  Senate Committee on Health and Human Services and the House Public
  Health Committee.
         SECTION 4.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to the detention and examination of a person admitted for a
  preliminary examination under Section 573.021, Health and Safety
  Code, on or after the effective date of this Act and to the filing of
  a motion for emergency detention under Section 574.021, Health and
  Safety Code, on or after the effective date of this Act. The
  detention and examination of a person admitted for a preliminary
  examination before the effective date of this Act is governed by the
  law in effect when the person was admitted, the filing of a motion
  for an order of protective custody is governed by the law in effect
  on the date the motion is filed, and the former law is continued in
  effect for those purposes.
         SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 518 was passed by the House on April
  12, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 140, Nays 0, 1 present, not
  voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 518 was passed by the Senate on May
  10, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
  APPROVED:  _____________________
                     Date          
   
            _____________________
                   Governor