BILL NUMBER: AB 2531	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Allen

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2012

   An act to add Section 7295 to the Welfare and Institutions Code,
relating to mental health.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2531, as introduced, Allen. State hospitals: prohibited items.
   Existing law provides for state mental hospitals for the treatment
of mentally disordered persons. Existing law places these hospitals
under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Mental Health, and
authorizes the department to adopt uniform rules and regulations
regarding the conduct and management of these facilities, including
prohibiting patients from possessing certain items. Existing law
requires the hospital director to be responsible for the overall
management of the hospital, and authorizes the hospital director to
establish rules and regulations, as specified, concerning the care
and treatment of patients, research, clinical training, and for the
government of the hospital buildings and grounds.
   This bill would authorize a state hospital under the jurisdiction
of the State Department of Mental Health to develop a list of items
that are deemed contraband and prohibited on hospital grounds. This
bill would require the hospital to form a contraband committee, as
prescribed, to develop the list of contraband items, and would
require the list to be subject to review and approval by the
director, or his or her designee, and updated no less often than
every 6 months. This bill would authorize the hospital and the
department to implement, interpret, and make specific these
provisions without taking regulatory action.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


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

  SECTION 1.  Section 7295 is added to the Welfare and Institutions
Code, to read:
   7295.  (a) To ensure its safety and security, a state hospital
that is under the jurisdiction of the State Department of Mental
Health, as listed in Section 4100, may develop a list of items that
are deemed contraband and prohibited on hospital grounds, and control
and eliminate contraband on hospital grounds.
   (b) The hospital shall form a contraband committee, comprised of
hospital management and employees designated by the hospital's
director, to develop the list of contraband items. The committee
shall develop the list with the participation of patient
representatives, or the patient government of the hospital, if one is
available, and the Office of Patients' Rights.
   (c) The list of contraband items is subject to review and approval
by the Director of Mental Health or his or her designee.
   (d) The list of contraband items shall be updated and subject to
review and approval by the director of the department, or his or her
designee, no less often than every six months.
   (e) The list of contraband items shall be posted prominently in
every unit of the hospital and throughout the hospital, and provided
to a patient upon request.
   (f) Notwithstanding Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of
Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, the hospital
and the department may implement, interpret, or make specific this
section without taking regulatory action.