Terms Used In Tennessee Code 33-6-421

  • Chief officer: means the person with overall authority for a public or private hospital or treatment resource, or the person's designee. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Licensed physician: means a graduate of an accredited medical school authorized to confer upon graduates the degree of doctor of medicine (M. 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
  • Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
  • 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

The chief officer shall file with the court, by the time of the probable cause hearing, certificates of need for care and treatment from two (2) licensed physicians or one (1) licensed physician and a psychologist qualified under § 33-6-427(a), certifying that the defendant satisfies the requirements of § 33-6-502(1)-(4), and that if involuntary treatment is not continued the defendant’s condition resulting from mental illness or serious emotional disturbance is likely to deteriorate rapidly to the point that the defendant would be again admissible under § 33-6-403, and showing the factual foundation for the conclusions on each item of the certificates.

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