BILL NUMBER: AB 881	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Cook

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2011

   An act to amend Sections 5150 and 5278 of the Welfare and
Institutions Code, relating to mental health.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 881, as introduced, Cook. Mental health: involuntary
commitment: transportation.
   Under existing law, when a person, as a result of mental disorder,
is a danger to others, or to himself or herself, or gravely
disabled, he or she may, upon probable cause, be taken into custody
and placed in a facility designated by the county and approved by the
State Department of Mental Health as a facility for 72-hour
treatment and evaluation. Existing law exempts from criminal or civil
liability specified people and entities who detain a person for
72-hour treatment and evaluation pursuant to this provision.
   This bill would authorize a provider of ambulance services, as
defined, and the employees of those providers to further detain a
person in custody for the purpose of transporting him or her to a
county-designated facility, whether or not accompanied by a person
otherwise authorized. The bill would also exempt from criminal and
civil liability individuals transporting a person for 72-hour
treatment and evaluation pursuant to this provision.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 5150 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   5150.   (a)    When any person, as a result of
mental disorder, is a danger to others, or to himself or herself, or
gravely disabled, a peace officer, member of the attending staff, as
defined by regulation, of an evaluation facility designated by the
county, designated members of a mobile crisis team provided by
Section 5651.7, or other professional person designated by the county
may, upon probable cause, take, or cause to be taken, the person
into custody and place him or her in a facility designated by the
county and approved by the State Department of Mental Health as a
facility for 72-hour treatment and evaluation. 
   (b) A provider of ambulance services licensed by the Department of
the California Highway Patrol or operated by a public safety agency
and the employees of those providers, certified or licensed pursuant
to Sections 1797.56, 1797.80, 1797.82, and 1797.84 of the Health and
Safety Code, shall be authorized to further detain a person in
custody pursuant to subdivision (a) for the purpose of transporting
him or her to a county-designated facility, whether or not
accompanied by a person designated in subdivision (a).  

    Such 
    (c)     The  facility shall require an
application in writing stating the circumstances under which the
person's condition was called to the attention of the officer, member
of the attending staff, or professional person, and stating that the
officer, member of the attending staff, or professional person has
probable cause to believe that the person is, as a result of mental
disorder, a danger to others, or to himself or herself, or gravely
disabled. If the probable cause is based on the statement of a person
other than the officer, member of the attending staff, or
professional person, such person shall be liable in a civil action
for intentionally giving a statement which he or she knows to be
false.
  SEC. 2.  Section 5278 of the Welfare and Institutions Code is
amended to read:
   5278.  Individuals authorized under this part to detain  or
transport  a person for 72-hour treatment and evaluation
pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 5150) or Article 2
(commencing with Section 5200), or to certify a person for intensive
treatment pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 5250) or
Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 5260) or Article 4.7 (commencing
with Section 5270.10) or to file a petition for post-certification
treatment for a person pursuant to Article 6 (commencing with Section
5300) shall not be held either criminally or civilly liable for
exercising this authority in accordance with the law.