Amended in Senate June 22, 2015

Amended in Assembly May 28, 2015

Amended in Assembly April 14, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 193

Introduced by Assembly Member Maienschein

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Chávez, Cooley, and Mathis)

January 28, 2015

An act to amend Sections 5350.2, 5352, 5354, and 5360 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, relating to conservatorships.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 193, as amended, Maienschein. Mental health: conservatorship hearings.

Existing law provides a procedure for the appointment of a conservator for a person who is determined to be gravely disabled as a result of a mental disorder or an impairment by chronic alcoholism and requires an officer, including a county public guardian or a county mental health program, to conduct a conservatorship investigation and render a written report to the court of his or her investigation. Under existing law, a professional person in charge of an agency providing comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing intensive treatment for a gravely disabled person may recommend a conservatorship for that person, and the agency is required to disclose any records or information that may facilitate an investigation. Existing law requires the officer providing conservatorship investigation, when he or she concurs with the recommendation of the professional person or facility, to petition the superior court in the patient’s county of residence for a conservatorship. begin insert Existing law also provides for the establishment of a conservatorship for a person who is unable to properly provide for his or her personal needs or is substantially unable to manage his or her finances. end insert

This bill would authorize the court, begin insert if a conservatorship has already been established under the Probate Code and end insert after a hearing attended by the begin delete proposed end delete conservatee or the begin delete proposed end delete conservatee’s counsel, or both, to recommend a conservatorship to the officer providing conservatorship investigation if the court, in consultation with a begin insert licensed end insert physician begin insert or psychologist, as specified, end insert providing comprehensive evaluation or intensive treatment, in a begin delete conservatorship end delete proceeding begin insert under the Probate Code end insert determines, based on the evidence presented to the court, including medical evidence, that begin delete a person for whom a conservatorship has been established end delete begin insert the conservatee end insert may be gravely disabled as a result of a mental disorder or impairment by chronic alcoholism and is unwilling to accept, or is incapable of accepting, treatment voluntarily. The bill would also require the court to appoint counsel to a begin delete proposed end delete conservatee if he or she cannot afford counsel. The bill would require the officer providing conservatorship investigation to petition the superior court in the patient’s county of residence to establish conservatorship if he or she concurs with the recommendation of the court, and to file a copy of his or her report with the court. The bill would require begin delete an existing probate end delete begin insert a end insert conservator, if conservatorship is recommended by the court, to disclose any records or information that may facilitate the investigation. The bill would also make conforming changes.

By expanding the duties of the county officer providing conservatorship investigation, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 5350.2 of the Welfare and Institutions
Code is amended to read:

5350.2.  

Reasonable attempts shall be made by the county
mental health program to notify family members, or any other
person designated begin insert to receive notice end insert by the person for whom
conservatorship is sought, of the time and place of the
conservatorship hearing. The person for whom the conservatorship
is sought shall be advised by the facility treating the person, or by
the begin delete probate end delete court begin insert in a proceeding end insert begin insert under the Probate Code, end insert if the
recommendation was made pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
5352, that he or she may request that information about the time
and place of the conservatorship hearing not be given to family
members if the proposed conservator is not a family member. The
request shall be honored by the mental health program. Neither
this section nor Section 5350 shall be interpreted to allow the
proposed conservatee to request that any proposed conservator not
be advised of the time and place of the conservatorship hearing.

SEC. 2.  

Section 5352 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:

5352.  

(a) If the professional person in charge of an agency
providing comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing
intensive treatment determines that a person in his or her care is
gravely disabled as a result of mental disorder or impairment by
chronic alcoholism and is unwilling to accept, or incapable of
accepting, treatment voluntarily, he or she may recommend
conservatorship begin insert of the person end insert to the officer providing
conservatorship investigation of the person’s county of residence
before admitting the person as a patient in the facility.

(b) The professional person in charge of an agency providing
comprehensive evaluation or a facility providing intensive
treatment may recommend conservatorship for a person without
the person being an inpatient in the facility if both of the following
conditions are met:

(1) The professional person or another professional person
designated by him or her has examined and evaluated the person
and determined that the person is gravely disabled.

(2) The professional person or another professional person
designated by him or her has determined that future examination
on an inpatient basis is not necessary for a determination that the
person is gravely disabled.

(c) (1)  begin delete The court, end delete begin insert If a conservatorship has already been
established under the Probate Code, the court, in a proceeding
under the Probate Code, end insert after a hearing attended by the begin delete proposed end delete
conservatee or the begin delete proposed end delete conservatee’s counsel, or both, may
recommend a conservatorship begin insert of the person end insert under this chapter to
the officer providing conservatorship investigation of the person’s
county of residence if the court, begin insert in a proceeding under the Probate
Code, end insert in consultation with a begin insert licensed end insert physician begin insert or licensed
psychologist satisfying the conditions of subdivision (c) of Section
2032.020 of the Code of Civil Procedure end insert providing comprehensive
evaluation or intensive treatment, begin delete in a proceeding end delete begin delete under the Probate
Code end delete determines based on evidence presented to the court,
including medical evidence, that begin delete a person for whom a
conservatorship has been established under the Probate Code end delete begin insert the
conservatee end insert may be gravely disabled as a result of a mental disorder
or impairment by chronic alcoholism and is unwilling to accept
or is incapable of accepting treatment voluntarily. If the begin delete proposed end delete
conservatee cannot afford counsel, the begin delete court end delete begin insert court, in a proceeding
under the Probate Code, end insert shall appoint counsel for him or her.

(2) The officer providing conservatorship investigation shall
file a copy of his or her report with the court making the
recommendation in begin delete the probate conservatorship. end delete begin insert a proceeding
under the Probate Code. end insert

(d) If the officer providing conservatorship investigation concurs
with the recommendation of the professional person, pursuant to
subdivision (a) or (b), or the court, pursuant to subdivision (c), he
or she shall petition the superior court in the patient’s county of
residence to establish conservatorship.

(e) If temporary conservatorship is indicated, that fact shall be
alternatively pleaded in the petition. The officer providing
conservatorship investigation or other county officer or employee
designated by the county shall act as the temporary conservator.

SEC. 3.  

Section 5354 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:

5354.  

(a) The officer providing conservatorship investigation
shall investigate all available alternatives to conservatorship and
shall recommend conservatorship to the court only if no suitable
alternatives are available. This officer shall render to the court a
written report of investigation begin delete prior to end delete begin insert before end insert the hearing. The
report to the court shall be comprehensive and shall contain all
relevant aspects of the person’s medical, psychological, financial,
family, vocational, and social condition, and information obtained
from the person’s family members, close friends, social worker,
or principal therapist. The report shall also contain all available
information concerning the person’s real and personal property.
The facilities providing intensive treatment or comprehensive
evaluation shall disclose any records or information that may
facilitate the investigation. If the recommendation for
conservatorship was made pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
5352, the begin delete existing probate end delete conservator begin insert in a proceeding under the
Probate Code end insert shall disclose any records or information that may
facilitate the investigation. If the officer providing conservatorship
investigation recommends against conservatorship, he or she shall
set forth all alternatives available. A copy of the report shall be
transmitted to the individual who, or the begin delete court end delete begin insert court, in a
proceeding under the Probate Code, end insert that, originally recommended
conservatorship, to the person or agency, if any, recommended to
serve as conservator, and to the person recommended for
conservatorship. The court may receive the report in evidence and
may read and consider the contents thereof in rendering its
judgment.

(b) Notwithstanding Section 5328, when a court with jurisdiction
over a person in a criminal case orders an evaluation of the person’s
mental condition pursuant to Section 5200, and that evaluation
leads to a conservatorship investigation, the officer providing the
conservatorship investigation shall serve a copy of the report
required under subdivision (a) upon the defendant or the
defendant’s counsel. Upon the prior written request of the
defendant or the defendant’s counsel, the officer providing the
conservatorship investigation shall also submit a copy of the report
to the court hearing the criminal case, the district attorney, and the
county probation department. The conservatorship investigation
report and the information contained in that report, shall be kept
confidential and shall not be further disclosed to anyone without
the prior written consent of the defendant. After disposition of the
criminal case, the court shall place all copies of the report in a
sealed file, except as follows:

(1) The defendant and the defendant’s counsel may retain their
copy.

(2) If the defendant is placed on probation status, the county
probation department may retain a copy of the report for the
purpose of supervision of the defendant until the probation is
terminated, at which time the probation department shall return
its copy of the report to the court for placement into the sealed file.

SEC. 4.  

Section 5360 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:

5360.  

(a) The officer providing conservatorship investigation
shall recommend, in his or her report to the court, for or against
imposition of a disability set forth in Section 5357 on the basis of
the determination of the professional person who recommended
conservatorship pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 5352,
or the determination of the physician begin insert or psychologist end insert who presented
medical evidence to the court pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
5352.

(b) The officer providing conservatorship investigation shall
recommend in his or her report any of the additional powers of a
conservator set forth in Section 2591 of the Probate Code if the
needs of the individual patient or his estate require such powers.
In making this determination, the officer providing conservatorship
investigation shall consult with the professional person who
recommended conservatorship pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b)
of Section 5352, or the begin delete determination of the end delete physician begin insert or
psychologist end insert who presented medical evidence to the court pursuant
to subdivision (c) of Section 5352.

SEC. 5.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.