S.B. No. 646
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to court-ordered outpatient mental health services.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 574, Health and Safety
  Code, is amended by adding Section 574.0125 to read as follows:
         Sec. 574.0125.  IDENTIFICATION OF PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR
  COURT-ORDERED OUTPATIENT MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES. Not later than
  the third day before the date of a hearing that may result in the
  judge ordering the patient to receive court-ordered outpatient
  mental health services, the judge shall identify the person the
  judge intends to designate to be responsible for those services
  under Section 574.037.
         SECTION 2.  Section 574.037, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsections
  (b-1), (b-2), (c-1), (c-2), (c-3), and (c-4) to read as follows:
         (a)  The court, in an order that directs a patient to
  participate in outpatient mental health services, shall designate
  the person identified under Section 574.0125 as [identify a person
  who is] responsible for those services or may designate a different
  person if necessary. The person designated [identified] must be
  the facility administrator or an individual involved in providing
  court-ordered outpatient services. A person may not be designated
  as responsible for the ordered services without the person's
  consent unless the person is the facility administrator of a
  department facility or the facility administrator of a community
  center that provides mental health services in the region in which
  the committing court is located.
         (b)  The person responsible for the services shall submit to
  the court [within two weeks after the court enters the order] a
  general program of the treatment to be provided as required by this
  subsection and Subsection (b-2). The program must be incorporated
  into the court order.  The program must include:
               (1)  services to provide care coordination; and
               (2)  any other treatment or services, including
  medication and supported housing, that are available and considered
  clinically necessary by a treating physician or the person
  responsible for the services to assist the patient in functioning
  safely in the community.
         (b-1)  If the patient is receiving inpatient mental health
  services at the time the program is being prepared, the person
  responsible for the services under this section shall seek input
  from the patient's inpatient treatment providers in preparing the
  program.
         (b-2)  The person responsible for the services shall submit
  the program to the court before the hearing under Section 574.034 or
  574.035 or before the court modifies an order under Section
  574.061, as appropriate.
         (c-1)  A patient subject to court-ordered outpatient
  services may petition the court for specific enforcement of the
  court order.
         (c-2)  A court may, on its own motion, set a status
  conference with the person responsible for the services, the
  patient, and the patient's attorney.
         (c-3)  The court shall order the patient to participate in
  the program but may not compel performance.  If a court receives
  information under Subsection (c)(1) that a patient is not complying
  with the court's order, the court may:
               (1)  set a modification hearing under Section 574.062;
  and
               (2)  issue an order for temporary detention if an
  application is filed under Section 574.063.
         (c-4)  The failure of a patient to comply with the program
  incorporated into a court order is not grounds for punishment for
  contempt of court under Section 21.002, Government Code.
         SECTION 3.  Subsection (f), Section 574.061, Health and
  Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (f)  If the court modifies the order, the court shall
  designate [identify] a person to be responsible for the outpatient
  services as prescribed by Section 574.037.
         SECTION 4.  Subsection (b), Section 574.063, Health and
  Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (b)  The application must state the applicant's opinion and
  detail the reasons for the applicant's opinion that:
               (1)  the patient meets the criteria described by
  Section 574.064(a-1) [574.065(a)]; and
               (2)  detention in an inpatient mental health facility
  is necessary to evaluate the appropriate setting for continued
  court-ordered services.
         SECTION 5.  Section 574.064, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended by adding Subsections (a-1) and (a-2) and amending
  Subsections (b) and (e) to read as follows:
         (a-1)  A physician shall evaluate the patient as soon as
  possible within 24 hours after the time detention begins to
  determine whether the patient, due to mental illness, presents a
  substantial risk of serious harm to the patient or others so that
  the patient cannot be at liberty pending the probable cause hearing
  under Subsection (b).  The determination that the patient presents
  a substantial risk of serious harm to the patient or others may be
  demonstrated by:
               (1)  the patient's behavior; or
               (2)  evidence of severe emotional distress and
  deterioration in the patient's mental condition to the extent that
  the patient cannot live safely in the community.
         (a-2)  If the physician who conducted the evaluation
  determines that the patient does not present a substantial risk of
  serious harm to the patient or others, the facility shall:
               (1)  notify:
                     (A)  the person designated under Section 574.037
  as responsible for providing outpatient mental health services or
  the facility administrator of the outpatient facility treating the
  patient; and
                     (B)  the court that entered the order directing
  the patient to receive court-ordered outpatient mental health
  services; and
               (2)  release the patient.
         (b)  A patient who is not released under Subsection (a-2) may
  be detained under a temporary detention order for more than 72
  hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, legal holidays, and the period
  prescribed by Section 574.025(b) for an extreme emergency only if,
  after a hearing held before the expiration of that period, the
  court, a magistrate, or a designated associate judge finds that
  there is probable cause to believe that:
               (1)  the patient, due to mental illness, presents a
  substantial risk of serious harm to the patient or others, using the
  criteria prescribed by Subsection (a-1), to the extent that the
  patient cannot be at liberty pending the final hearing under
  Section 574.062 [meets the criteria described by Section
  574.065(a)]; and
               (2)  detention in an inpatient mental health facility
  is necessary to evaluate the appropriate setting for continued
  court-ordered services.
         (e)  A patient released from an inpatient mental health
  facility under Subsection (a-2) or (d) continues to be subject to
  the order for court-ordered outpatient services, if the order has
  not expired.
         SECTION 6.  Subsection (a), Section 574.065, Health and
  Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The court may modify an order for outpatient services at
  the modification hearing if the court determines that the patient
  meets the applicable criteria for court-ordered inpatient mental
  health services prescribed by Section 574.034(a) or 574.035(a).
         SECTION 7.  The heading to Subchapter G, Chapter 574, Health
  and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER G.  ADMINISTRATION OF MEDICATION TO PATIENT UNDER COURT
  ORDER FOR [INPATIENT] MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
         SECTION 8.  Section 574.102, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 574.102.  APPLICATION OF SUBCHAPTER. This subchapter
  applies to the application of medication to a patient subject to a
  court [an] order for [inpatient] mental health services under this
  chapter or other law.
         SECTION 9.  Subsection (b), Section 574.103, Health and
  Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (b)  A person may not administer a psychoactive medication to
  a patient under court-ordered inpatient mental health services who
  refuses to take the medication voluntarily unless:
               (1)  the patient is having a medication-related
  emergency;
               (2)  the patient is under an order issued under Section
  574.106 authorizing the administration of the medication
  regardless of the patient's refusal; or
               (3)  the patient is a ward who is 18 years of age or
  older and the guardian of the person of the ward consents to the
  administration of psychoactive medication regardless of the ward's
  expressed preferences regarding treatment with psychoactive
  medication.
         SECTION 10.  Subchapter D, Chapter 1001, Health and Safety
  Code, is amended by adding Section 1001.083 to read as follows:
         Sec. 1001.083.  REPORT ON COURT-ORDERED OUTPATIENT MENTAL
  HEALTH SERVICES. (a)  Not later than December 1, 2016, the
  department shall prepare and submit to the legislature a report
  containing information about persons receiving court-ordered
  outpatient mental health services in this state and the
  effectiveness of those services.
         (b)  This section expires September 1, 2017.
         SECTION 11.  Subsection (i), Section 574.034 and Subsection
  (j), Section 574.035, Health and Safety Code, are repealed.
         SECTION 12.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to an application for court-ordered mental health services or
  temporary detention filed on or after the effective date of this
  Act.  An application filed before the effective date of this Act is
  governed by the law in effect when the application was filed, and
  the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 13.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 646 passed the Senate on
  April 18, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
  the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 24, 2013, by the
  following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 646 passed the House, with
  amendment, on May 22, 2013, by the following vote: Yeas 143,
  Nays 2, one present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
              Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor