I. For hearings held under this chapter, the person sought to be admitted shall have the right to legal counsel, to present evidence on his or her own behalf, to have a closed hearing and a closed file unless he or she requests otherwise, and to cross-examine witnesses. He or she shall also have the right to summon as a witness the psychiatrist who filed the report pursuant to N.H. Rev. Stat. § 135-C:40 and to cross-examine him or her. A transcript, which may consist only of any audio recording of the proceedings, and at the court’s discretion, shall be made of the entire proceeding. The transcript may serve as the basis for an appeal and the costs of the transcript shall be apportioned, within the judge’s discretion, between the state and the person sought to be admitted. The transcript or recording shall be retained by the court for 2 years or until official notice is received of discharge, if the person is admitted on an involuntary basis and subsequently discharged.
II. If the court determines that involuntary admission to a receiving facility is necessary, the court, at the nonemergency involuntary admission hearing, shall determine if the psychiatric evaluation performed by the psychiatrist designated by the court shall be available to the designated receiving facility, as defined in N.H. Rev. Stat. § 135-C:26, or the secure psychiatric unit. Before the court determines whether to provide the psychiatric evaluation to the designated receiving facility or to the secure psychiatric unit, the court shall provide the person sought to be admitted with an opportunity to object. The court shall consider the person’s privacy interest in the content of the psychiatric evaluation and the receiving facility’s or the secure psychiatric unit’s need to review the psychiatric evaluation for purposes of treatment.

Terms Used In New Hampshire Revised Statutes 135-C:43

  • Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • person: may extend and be applied to bodies corporate and politic as well as to individuals. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:9
  • Psychiatrist: means a physician licensed to practice in New Hampshire who is either board certified or board eligible according to the most recent regulations of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Inc. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 135-C:2
  • Receiving facility: means a treatment facility which is designated by the commissioner to accept for care, custody, and treatment persons involuntarily admitted to the state mental health services system. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 135-C:2
  • state: when applied to different parts of the United States, may extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall include said district and territories. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 21:4
  • Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
  • Treatment: means examination, diagnosis, training, rehabilitation therapy, pharmaceuticals, and other services provided to clients in the mental health services system. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 135-C:2