2005 Idaho Code - 66-337 — REVIEW, TERMINATION OF COMMITMENT AND DISCHARGE OF PATIENTS

                                  TITLE  66
                        STATE CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS
                                  CHAPTER 3
                       HOSPITALIZATION OF MENTALLY ILL
    66-337.  REVIEW, TERMINATION OF COMMITMENT AND DISCHARGE OF PATIENTS. (a)
The department director or his designee shall as frequently as practicable but
at least once at the end of the first ninety (90) days examine or cause to be
examined every patient committed to his custody or admitted to an inpatient
facility of the state of Idaho, and determine whether to conditionally
release, discharge or terminate the commitment of the patient. If the patient
has not been conditionally released, discharged, or had the commitment
terminated a similar review shall be conducted every one hundred twenty (120)
days thereafter. A report of each review and determination regarding an
involuntary patient shall be sent to the committing court, prosecuting
attorney of the county of commitment, if any, the patient's attorney, and
either the patient's spouse, guardian, next of kin or friend.
    (b)  The commitment of an involuntary patient shall be terminated if the
patient is no longer mentally ill or is no longer likely to injure himself or
others or is no longer gravely disabled; provided, that patients admitted
under section 18-214, Idaho Code, acquitted of criminal charges filed prior to
July 1, 1982, on grounds of mental disease or defect, or committed pursuant to
sections 18-212(4) and 66-329, Idaho Code, as unfit to proceed, may not be
released from an inpatient facility unless thirty (30) days before such
release, the department director or his designee shall notify the committing
court and prosecuting attorney of the contemplated release.
    (c)  Upon notification of intention to release from an inpatient facility
either a patient admitted under section 18-214, Idaho Code, acquitted of
criminal charges filed prior to July 1, 1982, on grounds of mental disease or
defect, or committed pursuant to sections 18-212(4) and 66-329, Idaho Code, as
unfit to proceed, and upon motion of an interested party or the court on its
own motion, the court shall determine whether the conditions justifying such
release exist. In making such determination, the court may order an
independent examination of the patient. The cost of such independent
examination must be borne by the party making the motion or, if indigent, the
county having jurisdiction of the case. If no motion is made, the patient may
be released according to the notice.
    (d)  Section 18-214, Idaho Code, shall remain in full force and effect for
every individual previously acquitted pursuant to section 18-213, Idaho Code.
Section 18-214, Idaho Code, as last amended by section 2, chapter 13, laws of
1977, which is placed here for reference only and is not a reenactment of
section 18-214, Idaho Code, and reads as follows:
    18-214.  Commitment of acquitted defendant -- Conditional release --
Revocation of release within five years. (1) When a defendant is acquitted on
the ground of mental disease or defect excluding responsibility, the court
shall order him to be committed to the custody of the director of the
department of health and welfare to be placed in an appropriate institution
for custody, care and treatment.
    (2)  If the director of the department of health and welfare is of the
view that a person committed to his custody, pursuant to paragraph (1) of this
section, may be discharged or released on condition without danger to himself
or to others, he shall make application for the discharge or release of such
person in a report to the court by which such person was committed and shall
transmit a copy of such application and report to the prosecuting attorney of
the county from which the defendant was committed. The court shall thereupon
appoint at least two (2) qualified psychiatrists to examine such person and to
report within sixty (60) days, or such longer period as  the court determines
to be necessary for the purpose, their opinion as to his mental condition. To
facilitate such examination and the proceedings thereon, the court may cause
such person to be confined in any institution located near the place where the
court sits, which may hereafter be designated by the director of the
department of health and welfare as suitable for the temporary detention of
irresponsible persons.
    (3)  If the court is satisfied by the report filed pursuant to paragraph
(2) of this section and such testimony of the reporting psychiatrists as the
court deems necessary that the committed person may be discharged or released
on condition without danger to himself or others, the court shall order his
discharge or his release on such conditions as the court determines to be
necessary. If the court is not so satisfied, it shall promptly order a hearing
to determine whether such person may safely be discharged or released. Any
such hearing shall be deemed a civil proceeding and the burden shall be upon
the committed person to prove that he may safely be discharged or released.
According to the determination of the court upon the hearing, the committed
person shall thereupon be discharged or released on such conditions as the
court determines to be necessary, or shall be recommitted to the custody of
the director of the department of health and welfare, subject to discharge or
release only in accordance with the procedure prescribed above for a first
hearing.
    (4)  If, within five (5) years after the conditional release of a
committed person, the court shall determine, after hearing evidence, that the
conditions of release have not been fulfilled and that for the safety of such
person or for the safety of others his conditional release should be revoked,
the court shall forthwith order him to be recommitted to the custody of the
director of the department of health and welfare subject to discharge or
release only in accordance with the procedure prescribed above for a first
hearing.
    (5)  A committed person may make application for his discharge or release
to the court by which he was committed, and the procedure to be followed upon
such application shall be the same as that prescribed above in the case of an
application by the director of the department of health and welfare. However,
no such application by a committed person need be considered until he has been
confined for a period of not less than six (6) months from the date of the
order of commitment and if the determination of the court be adverse to the
application, such person shall not be permitted to file a further application
until one (1) year has elapsed from the date of any preceding hearing on an
application for his release or discharge.
    (6)  If a defendant escapes from custody during his confinement, the
director shall immediately notify the court from which committed, the
prosecuting attorney and the sheriff of the county from which committed. The
court shall forthwith issue an order authorizing any health officer, peace
officer, or the director of the institution from which the defendant escaped,
to take the defendant into custody and immediately return him to his place of
confinement.