BILL NUMBER: AB 2531	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	PASSED THE SENATE  AUGUST 23, 2012
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY  AUGUST 28, 2012
	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 7, 2012
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 30, 2012

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, 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 State Hospitals,
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 State Hospitals 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 of contraband items developed by the state hospital
to be subject to review and approval by the Director of State
Hospitals or his or her designee, and updated no less often than
every 6 months. This bill would also require the State Department of
State Hospitals to develop a list of items that shall be deemed
contraband at every state hospital, subject to review and approval by
the Director of State Hospitals. This bill would require a state
hospital to post the lists developed pursuant to these provisions
throughout the hospital and on its Internet Web site. This bill would
authorize a hospital and the department to implement, interpret, and
make specific these provisions without taking regulatory action.


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 State
Hospitals, 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 State Department of State Hospitals shall develop a list
of items that shall be deemed contraband at every state hospital.
   (c) A state 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.
   (d) Each hospital list of contraband items developed pursuant to
subdivision (a), and the statewide list of contraband items developed
pursuant to subdivision (b) are subject to review and approval by
the Director of State Hospitals or his or her designee.
   (e) A list of contraband items developed pursuant to subdivision
(a) 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.
   (f) If an item presents an emergent danger to the safety and
security of a facility, the item may be placed immediately on a
contraband list by the Director of State Hospitals or the executive
director of the state hospital, but this placement shall be reviewed
by the contraband committee, if applicable, and approved by the
Director of State Hospitals or his or her designee within six weeks.
   (g) The lists of contraband items developed pursuant to this
section shall be posted prominently in every unit of the hospital and
throughout the hospital, and provided to a patient upon request.
   (h) The lists of contraband items developed pursuant to this
section shall be posted on the hospital's Internet Web site.
   (i) For the purposes of this section, "contraband" means
materials, articles, or goods that a patient is prohibited from
having in his or her possession because the materials, articles, or
goods present a risk to the safety and security of the facility.
   (j) 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.