Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5017 – Immunity
(a) Initial assessment. — No peace officer, medical doctor, credentialed mental health screener, juvenile mental health screener, or facility in which a medical doctor or credentialed mental health screener or juvenile mental health screener practices shall be subject to civil damages or criminal penalties for any harm resulting from the performance of their functions under this section unless such harm was intentional or the result of wilful or wanton misconduct on their part. This immunity is limited to the mental health assessment, resulting clinical decision, and involuntary hold necessary until the person is presented to a designated psychiatric treatment facility that is able to provide such psychiatric health-care services for the emergency detention described in § 5001(8) of this title.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5017
- Credentialed mental health screener: means an individual who is:
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Juvenile mental health screener: means a person authorized by the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families to assess individuals under the age of 18 for emergency detention. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
- Mental condition: means a current, substantial disturbance of thought, mood, perception or orientation which significantly impairs judgment, capacity to control behavior, or capacity to recognize reality. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
- Peace officer: means any public officer authorized by law to make arrests in a criminal case. See Delaware Code Title 16 Sec. 5001
- Person with a mental condition: includes every person with an emotional or psychiatric disorder or disability. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
- State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
(b) Emergency detention. — After the person presents to the designated psychiatric treatment facility and during the emergency detention period described in § 5001(8) of this title, no medical doctor or designated psychiatric treatment facility shall be subject to civil damages or criminal penalties for any harm to the person with a mental condition resulting from the performance of functions under § 5004(e) of this title unless such harm was the result of negligent, reckless, wilful, wanton and/or intentional misconduct.
(c) Subsequent care. — After the person is voluntarily admitted, provisionally admitted or involuntarily committed, no peace officer or medical doctor shall be subject to civil damages or criminal penalties for any harm to the person with a mental condition resulting from the performance of the officer’s or doctor’s own functions of this title unless such harm was the result of negligent, reckless, wilful, wanton and/or intentional misconduct on the officer’s or doctor’s own part.
(d) Nothing in this section is intended to waive the State‘s sovereign immunity or the privileges and immunities set forth at Chapter 40 of Title 10.