A. On presentation of the person for emergency admission, an admitting officer of an evaluation agency shall perform an examination of the person’s psychiatric and physical condition and may admit the person to the agency as an emergency patient if the admitting officer finds, as a result of the examination and investigation of the application for emergency admission, that there is reasonable cause to believe that the person, as a result of a mental disorder, is a danger to self or others, has a persistent or acute disability or a grave disability and is unable or unwilling to undergo voluntary evaluation and that during the time necessary to complete the prepetition screening procedures set forth in sections 36-520 and 36-521 the person is likely without immediate hospitalization to suffer serious physical harm or serious illness or to inflict serious physical harm on another person. If a person is hospitalized pursuant to this section, the admitting officer may notify a screening agency and seek its assistance or guidance in developing alternatives to involuntary confinement and in counseling the person and the person’s family.

Terms Used In Arizona Laws 36-526

  • Admitting officer: means a psychiatrist or other physician or psychiatric and mental health nurse practitioner with experience in performing psychiatric examinations who has been designated as an admitting officer of the evaluation agency by the person in charge of the evaluation agency. 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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. On the same or a succeeding court day, the medical director in charge of the agency shall file a petition for a court-ordered evaluation, unless the person has been discharged or has become a voluntary patient. The petition need not comply with the provisions of this chapter requiring preparation and filing of a prepetition screening report but shall meet all other requirements and shall seek an appropriate order pursuant to section 36-529.

  Previous section
Next section  
 Article 4 Contents