2011 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 27: Public Assistance
Article 7: Adult Protective Services, 27-7-1 through 27-7-31
Section 27-7-27: Hearing on petition.

27-7-27. Hearing on petition.

A. The hearing on a petition for renewal of an emergency ex-parte order for protective services or protective placement or for an order for nonemergency protective services or protective placement shall be held under the following conditions:

(1) the adult shall be present unless the court determines it is impossible for the adult to be present or it is not in the adult's best interest because of a threat to that adult's health and safety;

(2) the adult has the right to counsel whether or not the adult is present at the hearing. If the adult is indigent, the court shall appoint counsel no later than the time of the filing of the petition;

(3) counsel appointed by the court pursuant to Paragraph (2) of this subsection shall interview the allegedly incapacitated adult prior to any hearing on the petition or any application for renewal of the original emergency order;

(4) the adult shall have the right to trial by jury upon request by the adult or the adult's counsel only in hearings held on petitions for nonemergency protective services or protective placement; and

(5) the adult has the right at the adult's own expense or, if indigent, at the expense of the state to secure an independent medical, psychological or psychiatric examination relevant to the issue involved in any hearing under this section and to present a report of this independent evaluation or the evaluator's personal testimony as evidence at the hearing.

B. The duty of counsel representing an adult for whom a petition for an order for emergency protective services or for nonemergency protective services or protective placement has been filed shall be to represent the adult by protecting the adult's legal rights and presenting the adult's declared position to the court.

C. The department shall establish an evaluation or assessment process for the conduct of a comprehensive physical, mental and social evaluation of an adult for whom a petition has been filed in a court for an order for nonemergency protective services or protective placement or for whom an application for renewal of an original emergency order has been made. The court shall consider the department's evaluation or assessment in determining whether to issue an order or renewal of an order for nonemergency protective services or protective placement.

D. The court shall issue for the record a statement of its findings in support of any order for renewal of emergency protective services or for nonemergency protective services or protective placement.