2020 Georgia Code
Title 37 - Mental Health
Chapter 3 - Examination, Treatment, etc., for Mental Illness
Article 2 - Hospitalization and Treatment of Voluntary Patients
§ 37-3-20. Admission of Voluntary Patients; Consent of Parent or Guardian to Treatment; Giving Notice of Rights to Patient at Time of Admission

1. The chief medical officer of any facility may receive for observation and diagnosis any patient 12 years of age or older making application therefor, any patient under 18 years of age for whom such application is made by his parent or guardian, and any patient who has been declared legally incompetent and for whom such application is made by his guardian. If found to show evidence of mental illness and to be suitable for treatment, such person may be given care and treatment at such facility; and such person may be detained by such facility until discharged pursuant to Code Section 37-3-21 or 37-3-22. The parents or guardian of a minor child must give written consent to such treatment. An individualized service plan shall be developed for such person as soon as possible.
2. Any individual voluntarily admitted to a facility under this Code section shall be given notice of his rights under this chapter at the time of his admission.

(Ga. L. 1952, p. 94, § 1; Ga. L. 1958, p. 697, § 2; Ga. L. 1960, p. 837, § 2; Code 1933, § 88-502, enacted by Ga. L. 1964, p. 499, § 1; Code 1933, § 88-503.1, enacted by Ga. L. 1969, p. 505, § 1; Ga. L. 1978, p. 1789, § 1.)

- For article comparing hospitalization of mentally ill under Code 1933, Ch. 49-6, to present procedures under this chapter, see 23 Ga. B.J. 191 (1960). For article recommending more consistency in age requirements of laws pertaining to the welfare of minors, see 6 Ga. St. B.J. 189 (1969). For annual survey of law on trial practice and procedure, see 62 Mercer L. Rev. 339 (2010). For note comparing procedures for hospitalization of the mentally ill in Georgia to other jurisdictions and suggesting improvements, see 7 Mercer L. Rev. 361 (1956). For note, "Due Process Rights of Minors and Parental Authority in Civil Commitment Cases," see 31 Mercer L. Rev. 617 (1980). For comment on Parham v. J.R., 442 U.S. 584, 99 S. Ct. 2493, 61 L. Ed. 2d 101 (1979); Secretary of Pub. Welfare v. Institutionalized Juveniles, 442 U.S. 640, 99 S. Ct. 2523, 61 L. Ed. 2d 142 (1979), regarding juvenile commitment to state mental hospitals upon application of parents or guardians, see 29 Emory L.J. 517 (1980).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Constitutionality.

- State's procedures for admitting a child for treatment to a state mental hospital are consistent with constitutional guarantees. Parham v. J.R., 442 U.S. 584, 99 S. Ct. 2493, 61 L. Ed. 2d 101 (1979), for comment, see 29 Emory L.J. 517 (1980).

- Georgia's mental health director has not published any state-wide regulations defining what specific procedures each superintendent must employ when admitting a child under 18. Each regional hospital's superintendent is responsible for the procedures in his or her facility. Parham v. J.R., 442 U.S. 584, 99 S. Ct. 2493, 61 L. Ed. 2d 101 (1979), for comment, see 29 Emory L.J. 517 (1980).

In order to assert the affirmative defense of immunity from liability for good faith compliance with the statutory procedures for holding a voluntary patient after request for discharge, it was first necessary to show plaintiff was, in fact, a voluntary patient as defined by statute. Heath v. Emory Univ. Hosp., 208 Ga. App. 629, 431 S.E.2d 427 (1993).

Cited in J.L. v. Parham, 412 F. Supp. 112 (M.D. Ga. 1976); Heath v. Peachtree Parkwood Hosp., 200 Ga. App. 118, 407 S.E.2d 406 (1991); Heichelbech v. Evans, 798 F. Supp. 708 (M.D. Ga. 1992).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Prerequisites to admitting mentally retarded minor.

- Pursuant to former Code 1933, § 24A-2891 (see O.C.G.A. § 15-11-40), a mentally retarded child may not properly be committed to the Department of Human Resources unless the department first advises the court that the department has appropriate facilities available to serve that particular child; similarly, a mentally ill child may not be committed unless the child is in need of hospitalization because the child is likely to injure oneself or others if not hospitalized or because, due to one's mental illness, one is incapable of caring for one's physical health and safety. 1976 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 76-111.