A. The petition for evaluation shall contain the following:

Terms Used In Arizona Laws 36-523

  • Authorized transporter: means a transportation entity that is contracted with a city, town or county to provide services pursuant to this chapter and that is either:

    (a) An ambulance service that holds a valid certificate of necessity. See Arizona Laws 36-501

  • 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
  • Criminal history: means police reports, lists of prior arrests and convictions, criminal case pleadings and court orders, including a determination that the person has been found incompetent to stand trial pursuant to section 13-4510. 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

  • Evaluation agency: means either of the following:

    (a) A health care agency that is licensed by the department and that has been approved pursuant to this title to provide the services required of that agency by this chapter. 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
  • 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 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
  • Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
  • 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

1. The name, address and interest in the case of the individual who applied for the petition.

2. The name, and address if known, of the proposed patient for whom evaluation is petitioned.

3. The present whereabouts of the proposed patient, if known.

4. A statement alleging that there is reasonable cause to believe that the proposed patient has a mental disorder and is as a result a danger to self or others, has a persistent or acute disability or a grave disability and is unwilling or unable to undergo voluntary evaluation.

5. A summary of the facts that support the allegations that the proposed patient is dangerous, has a persistent or acute disability or a grave disability and is unwilling or unable to be voluntarily evaluated, including the facts that brought the proposed patient to the screening agency‘s attention.

6. If the petition is filed by a prosecutor pursuant to section 13-4517, any known criminal history of the proposed patient, including whether the proposed patient has ever been found incompetent to stand trial pursuant to section 13-4510.

7. A statement of any facts and circumstances that lead the petitioner to believe that the proposed patient may be safely transported to the evaluation agency by an authorized transporter, if available in the jurisdiction, without the assistance of a peace officer.

8. Other information that the director by rule or the court by rule or order may require.

B. The petition shall request that the court issue an order requiring that the proposed patient be given an evaluation and shall advise the court of both of the following:

1. That the opinion of the petitioner is either that the proposed patient is or is not in such a condition that without immediate or continuing hospitalization the patient is likely to suffer serious physical harm or further deterioration or inflict serious physical harm on another person.

2. If the opinion of the petitioner is that the proposed patient is not in the condition described in paragraph 1 of this subsection, that the opinion of the petitioner is either that the evaluation should or should not take place on an outpatient basis.

C. The petition for evaluation shall be accompanied by the application for evaluation, by the recommendation of the county attorney pursuant to section 36-521 and by a prepetition screening report, unless the documents have not been prepared under a provision of law or in accordance with an order of the court. The petition for evaluation shall also be accompanied by a copy of the application for emergency admission if one exists.

D. A petition and other forms required in a court may be filed only by the screening agency that has prepared the petition.

E. If the petition is not filed because it has been determined that the person does not need an evaluation, the agency after a period of six months shall destroy the petition and the various reports annexed to the petition as required by this section.

F. If the petition is not filed because it has been determined that the person does not need an evaluation and a prosecutor filed a petition pursuant to section 13-4517, the person shall be remanded for a disposition pursuant to section 13-4517. If the person is out of custody, the court may order that the person be taken into custody for a disposition pursuant to this section.

  Previous section
Next section  
 Article 4 Contents