Arizona Laws 36-521. Preparation of petition for court-ordered evaluation; procedures for prepetition screening
A. On receiving the application for evaluation, the screening agency, before filing a petition for court-ordered evaluation, shall provide prepetition screening within forty-eight hours excluding weekends and holidays when possible to determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe the allegations of the applicant for the court-ordered evaluation, whether the person will voluntarily receive evaluation at a scheduled time and place and whether the person has a persistent or acute disability or a grave disability or is likely to present a danger to self or others until the voluntary evaluation.
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 36-521
- Court: means the superior court in the county in this state in which the patient resides or was found before screening or emergency admission under this title. See Arizona Laws 36-501
- Danger to others: means that the judgment of a person who has a mental disorder is so impaired that the person is unable to understand the person's need for treatment and as a result of the person's mental disorder the person's continued behavior can reasonably be expected, on the basis of competent medical opinion, to result in serious physical harm. See Arizona Laws 36-501
- Director: means the director of the administration. See Arizona Laws 36-501
- Evaluation: means :
(a) A professional multidisciplinary analysis that may include firsthand observations or remote observations by interactive audiovisual media and that is based on data describing the person's identity, biography and medical, psychological and social conditions carried out by a group of persons consisting of at least the following:
(i) Two licensed physicians who are qualified psychiatrists, if possible, or at least experienced in psychiatric matters, who shall examine and report their findings independently. See Arizona Laws 36-501
- Grave disability: means a condition evidenced by behavior in which a person, as a result of a mental disorder, is likely to come to serious physical harm or serious illness because the person is unable to provide for the person's own basic physical needs. See Arizona Laws 36-501
- including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Mental disorder: means a substantial disorder of the person's emotional processes, thought, cognition or memory. See Arizona Laws 36-501
- Patient: means any person who is undergoing examination, evaluation or behavioral or mental health treatment under this chapter. See Arizona Laws 36-501
- Persistent or acute disability: means a severe mental disorder that meets all the following criteria:
(a) Significantly impairs judgment, reason, behavior or capacity to recognize reality. See Arizona Laws 36-501
- Person: includes a corporation, company, partnership, firm, association or society, as well as a natural person. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Prepetition screening: means the review of each application requesting court-ordered evaluation, including an investigation of facts alleged in the application, an interview with each applicant and an interview, if possible, with the proposed patient. See Arizona Laws 36-501
- Proposed patient: means a person for whom an application for evaluation has been made or a petition for court-ordered evaluation has been filed. See Arizona Laws 36-501
- Screening agency: means a health care agency that is licensed by the department and that provides those services required of the agency by this chapter. See Arizona Laws 36-501
- Voluntary evaluation: means the ongoing collection and analysis of a person's medical, psychological, psychiatric and social conditions in order to initially determine if a health disorder exists and if there is a need for behavioral health services and, on an ongoing basis, to ensure that the person's service plan is designed to meet the person's and the person's family's current needs and long-term goals. See Arizona Laws 36-501
B. After prepetition screening has been completed, the screening agency shall prepare a report of opinions and conclusions. If prepetition screening is not possible, the screening agency shall prepare a report giving reasons why the screening was not possible and including opinions and conclusions of staff members who attempted to conduct prepetition screening or otherwise investigated the matter.
C. If the prepetition screening report indicates that there exists no reasonable cause to believe the allegations of the applicant for the court-ordered evaluation, it shall be reviewed by the medical director of the screening agency or the medical director’s designee.
D. If, based on the allegations of the applicant for the court-ordered evaluation and the prepetition screening report or other information obtained while attempting to conduct a prepetition screening, the agency determines that there is reasonable cause to believe that the proposed patient is, as a result of mental disorder, a danger to self or to others or has a persistent or acute disability or a grave disability and that the proposed patient is unable or unwilling to voluntarily receive evaluation or is likely to present a danger to self or to others, has a grave disability or will further deteriorate before receiving a voluntary evaluation, the agency shall prepare a petition for court-ordered evaluation and shall file the petition, which shall be signed by the person who prepared the petition unless the county attorney performs these functions. If the agency determines that there is reasonable cause to believe that the person is in such a condition that without immediate hospitalization he is likely to harm himself or others, the agency shall take all reasonable steps to procure such hospitalization on an emergency basis.
E. The agency may contact the county attorney in order to obtain assistance in preparing the petition for court-ordered evaluation, and the agency may request the advice and judgment of the county attorney in reaching a decision as to whether the court-ordered evaluation is justified.
F. The county attorney may prepare or sign or file the petition if a court has ordered the county attorney to prepare the petition.
G. If a petition for court-ordered evaluation alleges danger to others as described in section 36-501, the screening agency, before filing such a petition, shall contact the county attorney for a review of the petition. The county attorney shall examine the petition and make one of the following written recommendations:
1. That a criminal investigation is warranted.
2. That the screening agency shall file the petition.
3. That no further proceedings are warranted. The screening agency shall consider the recommendation in determining whether a court-ordered evaluation is justified and shall include the recommendation with the petition if the agency decides to file the petition with the court.
H. The petition shall be made in the form and manner prescribed by the director.
I. If a petition for court-ordered evaluation is filed by a prosecutor pursuant to section 13-4517, a prior application for court-ordered evaluation or prescreening is not necessary.