Arizona Laws 13-3992. Commitment hearing in superior court; jurisdiction; census data collection; deferral
A. A person who is found guilty except insane pursuant to section 13-502 shall be committed to a secure mental health facility for a period of treatment.
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 13-3992
- Act: means a bodily movement. See Arizona Laws 13-105
- Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Dangerous: means a danger of inflicting serious physical harm on oneself or others, including attempted suicide or the serious threat of suicide, if the threat is such that, when considered in the light of the threat's context and any previous acts, the threat is substantially supportive of an expectation that it will be carried out. See Arizona Laws 13-3991
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- 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.
- including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Mental disease or defect: means a condition that was the basis for a person being found guilty except insane pursuant to section 13-502 or that was subsequently diagnosed while the person was committed to the secure mental health facility and for which the person needs ongoing mental health treatment. See Arizona Laws 13-3991
- Mental health report: means a report that is written by a treatment supervisor or other qualified expert, that documents the condition of a person's mental health and that, at a minimum, includes all of the following:
(a) The person's mental condition, symptoms and diagnosis on admission to a secure mental health facility. See Arizona Laws 13-3991
- Parties: includes the person under the court's jurisdiction, the secure mental health facility, the outpatient treatment supervisor and the county attorney or the attorney general who is representing the state. See Arizona Laws 13-3991
- Person: means a human being and, as the context requires, an enterprise, a public or private corporation, an unincorporated association, a partnership, a firm, a society, a government, a governmental authority or an individual or entity capable of holding a legal or beneficial interest in property. See Arizona Laws 13-105
- Physical injury: means the impairment of physical condition. See Arizona Laws 13-105
- Secure mental health facility: means a secure state mental health facility that is under the department of health services. See Arizona Laws 13-3991
- Serious physical injury: includes physical injury that creates a reasonable risk of death, or that causes serious and permanent disfigurement, serious impairment of health or loss or protracted impairment of the function of any bodily organ or limb. See Arizona Laws 13-105
B. If the person’s act did not cause the death or serious physical injury of or the threat of death or serious physical injury to another person, the court shall set a hearing within seventy-five days after the person’s commitment to determine if the person is entitled to release from confinement or if the person meets the standards for civil commitment pursuant to Title 36, Chapter 5. The court shall notify the medical director of the secure mental health facility, the victim and the parties of the date of the hearing. Fourteen days before the hearing, the medical director of the secure mental health facility shall submit a mental health report to the court and the remaining parties addressing whether the person meets the standard for and should be subject to involuntary hospitalization pursuant to Title 36, Chapter 5.
C. At a hearing held pursuant to subsection B of this section:
1. If the person proves by clear and convincing evidence that the person no longer has a mental disease or defect or that the person still has a mental disease or defect and is not dangerous, the court shall order the person’s release and the person’s commitment ordered pursuant to section 13-502, subsection D terminates.
2. If the court finds that the person still has a mental disease or defect and may present a threat of danger to self or others or has a grave, persistent or acute disability, the court shall order the county attorney to institute civil commitment proceedings pursuant to Title 36, Chapter 5 and the person’s commitment ordered pursuant to section 13-502, subsection D terminates.
D. If the court finds that the person’s act caused the death of or serious physical injury to or the threat of death or serious physical injury to another person, the court shall retain jurisdiction over the person for the entirety of the commitment term. The court shall state the beginning date, length and ending date of the commitment term and the court’s jurisdiction over the person. The length of jurisdiction over the person is equal to the sentence the person could have received pursuant to section 13-707 or section 13-751, subsection A or the presumptive sentence the person could have received pursuant to section 13-702, subsection D or section 13-703, 13-704 or 13-705, section 13-706, subsection A or section 13-710 or 13-1406. In making this determination, the court may not consider the sentence enhancements for prior convictions under section 13-703 or 13-704.
E. If a person is found guilty except insane pursuant to section 13-502, the department of health services shall assume custody of the person within ten days after receiving the order committing the person pursuant to subsection A of this section. The Arizona state hospital shall collect census data for guilty except insane treatment programs to establish maximum funded capacity and the allocation formula required pursuant to section 36-206, subsection D. If the Arizona state hospital reaches its maximum funded capacity for forensic programs, the department of health services may defer the admission of the person found guilty except insane for up to an additional twenty days. The department of health services shall reimburse the county for the actual costs of each day the admission is deferred. If the department of health services is not able to admit the person found guilty except insane at the conclusion of the twenty-day deferral period, the department of health services shall notify the sentencing court, the prosecutor and the defense counsel of this fact. On receipt of this notification, the prosecutor or the person’s defense counsel may request a hearing to determine the likely length of time admission will continue to be deferred and whether any other action should be taken. On receipt of the request for hearing, the court shall set a hearing within ten days.
F. The state and the defendant shall provide the secure mental health facility with a copy of the court’s commitment order and all documents considered by the court or admitted into evidence, including all medical and mental health reports.