S.B. No. 1889

	AN ACT
	relating to the transport of a mental health patient who is not a
	resident of this state.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Subdivision (12), Section 571.003, Health and
	Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
	(12)  "Mental health facility" means:
	(A)  an inpatient or outpatient mental health
	facility operated by the department, a federal agency, a political
	subdivision, or any person;
	(B)  a community center or a facility operated by
	a community center; [or]
	(C)  that identifiable part of a general hospital
	in which diagnosis, treatment, and care for persons with mental
	illness is provided; or
	(D)  with respect to a reciprocal agreement
	entered into under Section 571.0081, any hospital or facility
	designated as a place of commitment by the department, a local
	mental health authority, and the contracting state or local
	authority.
	SECTION 2.  Subsections (a), (c), and (e), Section 571.008,
	Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(a)  The department may return a nonresident patient
	committed to a department mental health facility or other mental
	health facility under Section 571.0081 to the proper agency of the
	patient's state of residence.
	(c)  Subject to Section 571.0081, the [The] department may
	enter into reciprocal agreements with the state or local
	authorities, as defined by Section 571.0081, [proper agencies] of
	other states to facilitate the return of persons committed to
	mental health facilities in this state or another state to the
	states of their residence.
	(e)  The state returning a committed patient to another state
	shall bear the expenses of returning the patient, unless the state
	agrees to share costs under a reciprocal agreement under Section
	571.0081.
	SECTION 3.  Chapter 571, Health and Safety Code, is amended
	by adding Section 571.0081 to read as follows:
	Sec. 571.0081.  RETURN OF COMMITTED PATIENT TO STATE OF
	RESIDENCE; RECIPROCAL AGREEMENTS.  (a)  In this section, "state or
	local authority" means a state or local government authority or
	agency or a representative of a state or local government authority
	or agency acting in an official capacity.
	(b)  If a state or local authority of another state petitions
	the department, the department shall enter into a reciprocal
	agreement with the state or local authority to facilitate the
	return of persons committed to mental health facilities in this
	state to the state of their residence unless the department
	determines that the terms of the agreement are not acceptable.
	(c)  A reciprocal agreement entered into by the department
	under Subsection (b) must require the department to develop a
	process for returning persons committed to mental health facilities
	to their state of residence.  The process must:
	(1)  provide suitable care for the person committed to
	a mental health facility;
	(2)  use available resources efficiently; and
	(3)  consider commitment to a proximate mental health
	facility to facilitate the return of the committed patient to the
	patient's state of residence.
	(d)  For the purpose of this section, the department shall
	coordinate, as appropriate, with a mental health facility, a mental
	hospital, health service providers, courts, and law enforcement
	personnel located in the geographic area nearest the petitioning
	state.
	SECTION 4.  The change in law made by this Act to Chapter
	571, Health and Safety Code, applies only to a reciprocal agreement
	between the state and another entity entered into on or after the
	effective date of this Act.  A reciprocal agreement entered into
	between the state and another entity before the effective date of
	this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the reciprocal
	agreement was entered into, and the former law is continued in
	effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1889 passed the Senate on
	May 2, 2013, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1889 passed the House on
	May 8, 2013, by the following vote:  Yeas 146, Nays 0, two present
	not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	Approved:
	______________________________
	Date
	______________________________
	Governor