New Hampshire Revised Statutes 135-C:45 – Order of Court
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I. In hearings held under this chapter, after hearing all the evidence, the court may order the respondent to be released, notwithstanding expert testimony, or it may order the person to submit to some form of treatment other than inpatient treatment on an involuntary basis, which may include treatment at a community mental health program approved by the commissioner. If the examining psychiatrist recommends involuntary admission to a receiving facility as the most desirable form of treatment, the court may so order. The court may furnish a copy of the psychiatric evaluation, pursuant to N.H. Rev. Stat. § 135-C:43, II, performed by the psychiatrist designated by the court to the designated receiving facility, as defined in N.H. Rev. Stat. § 135-C:26, or the secure psychiatric unit. If the court determines that involuntary admission to a receiving facility is necessary, but the examining psychiatrist finds otherwise in his report under N.H. Rev. Stat. § 135-C:40, the court may overrule the recommendation of the psychiatrist only after the court finds that treatment other than involuntary admission to a receiving facility would not be in the best interests of the person and the community.
II. In any order of admission to a receiving facility, the court shall include in the duration of said order an appropriate period of time, if any, to allow for conditional discharge. Admission for purposes of conditional discharge shall be appropriate when the person has recovered from his mental illness to such an extent that he no longer requires inpatient treatment but a prescribed regimen of medical, psychiatric, or psychological care or treatment is necessary to prevent the recurrence of the circumstances which led to the person’s dangerous condition. When a notice of decision is issued by the court, a copy of the order shall be provided electronically, or in another manner which shall provide notice at the earliest practicable time, to the appropriate receiving facility.
III. If the respondent is on a conditional discharge at the time of the hearing, the court may order involuntary admission to a receiving facility, or renew such an order, for the purpose of permitting the respondent to remain on conditional discharge if such treatment is necessary to prevent the recurrence of the circumstances which led to the person’s dangerous condition.
II. In any order of admission to a receiving facility, the court shall include in the duration of said order an appropriate period of time, if any, to allow for conditional discharge. Admission for purposes of conditional discharge shall be appropriate when the person has recovered from his mental illness to such an extent that he no longer requires inpatient treatment but a prescribed regimen of medical, psychiatric, or psychological care or treatment is necessary to prevent the recurrence of the circumstances which led to the person’s dangerous condition. When a notice of decision is issued by the court, a copy of the order shall be provided electronically, or in another manner which shall provide notice at the earliest practicable time, to the appropriate receiving facility.
Terms Used In New Hampshire Revised Statutes 135-C:45
- Commissioner: means the commissioner of the department of health and human services. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 135-C:2
- Community mental health program: means a program established and administered by the state, city, town, or county, or a nonprofit corporation for the purpose of providing mental health services to the residents of the area and which minimally provides emergency, medical or psychiatric screening and evaluation, case management, and psychotherapy services. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 135-C:2
- Conditional discharge: means the release of an involuntarily admitted person from a receiving facility on the condition that the person accept treatment in the community or be subject to readmission. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 135-C:2
- 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.
- Mental illness: means a substantial impairment of emotional processes, or of the ability to exercise conscious control of one's actions, or of the ability to perceive reality or to reason, when the impairment is manifested by instances of extremely abnormal behavior or extremely faulty perceptions. See New Hampshire Revised Statutes 135-C:2
- 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
- Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
- 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
III. If the respondent is on a conditional discharge at the time of the hearing, the court may order involuntary admission to a receiving facility, or renew such an order, for the purpose of permitting the respondent to remain on conditional discharge if such treatment is necessary to prevent the recurrence of the circumstances which led to the person’s dangerous condition.