Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 334-81

  • Administrator: means the person in charge of a public or private hospital. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 334-1
  • Court: means any duly constituted court and includes proceedings, hearings of per diem judges as authorized by law. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 334-1
  • Patient: means a person under observation, care, or treatment at a psychiatric facility. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 334-1
  • Psychiatric facility: means a public or private hospital or part thereof which provides inpatient or outpatient care, custody, diagnosis, treatment or rehabilitation services for mentally ill persons or for persons habituated to the excessive use of drugs or alcohol or for intoxicated persons. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 334-1

At any time after the admission of a patient to a psychiatric facility under part IV of this chapter or after the transfer of a patient to another psychiatric facility under § 334-71, the patient or, on the patient’s behalf, any member of the patient’s family, relative, friend, or responsible person, may obtain a judicial determination of the regularity of the patient’s admission or of the need for the patient’s continued hospitalization by filing a written request therefor in the family court of the circuit in which the psychiatric facility is located. The form of the request shall be prescribed and supplied free of charge by the court, and the proceedings in connection therewith shall be styled “In the Interest of (the named patient)”. The administrator of the psychiatric facility shall assist the patient in obtaining legal counsel if the patient objects to the patient’s admission or continued hospitalization.