(1) Select and recommend to the appropriate state officials the employment of the chief officers of all facilities of the department, all central office personnel, and all professional, technical and other personnel required for the operation of the department;
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 33-1-303
Commissioner: means the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
Department: means the department of mental health and substance abuse services. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
Mental illness: means a psychiatric disorder, alcohol dependence, or drug dependence, but does not include intellectual disability or other developmental disabilities as defined in title 52. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
Serious emotional disturbance: means a condition in a child who currently or at any time during the past year has had a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder of sufficient duration to meet psychiatric diagnostic criteria that results in functional impairment that substantially interferes with or limits the child's role or functioning in family, school, or community activities and includes any mental disorder, regardless of whether it is of biological etiology. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
Support: means any activity or resource that enables a service recipient to participate in a service for mental illness or serious emotional disturbance or in community life. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
(2) Recommend to the appropriate state officials the salaries and compensation of all officers and employees of the department;(3) Adopt rules and policies for the governance, management, and supervision of the department’s facilities; prescribe the powers and duties of officers and employees; and provide for admission, discharge, treatment, habilitation, and support of persons with mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, or developmental disabilities;(4) Publish a report on the operation of the department and the facilities and programs under its supervision and the department’s three-year plan; furnish the report and plan to the governor and members of the general assembly; and further distribute them as the commissioner, with the approval of the governor, may consider proper;(5) Publish compilations of this title and other relevant statutes to improve public knowledge of the laws by compiling them separately for services to children and adults and mental health and developmental disabilities service recipients and make the compilations available in print and on the internet;(6) Prescribe and distribute the forms to be used in connection with the admission, hospitalization or release of service recipients in the department’s facilities;(7) Alter the department’s facilities and grounds and name them;(8) Order the transfer of service recipients between state facilities;(9) Procure insurance to indemnify full-time or part-time physicians, licensed psychologists designated as health service providers, and non-physician chief officers of all facilities of the department against actions by service recipients and others that are alleged to arise out of acts of omission or commission of those personnel;(10) Delegate responsibilities as the commissioner deems necessary for the effective conduct of the functions of the department; and(11) Assume general responsibility for the proper and efficient operation of the department, its facilities, services and supports.
