Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes > Title 40 > Chapter 24-E - Silver Alert Act

• Addictive disorder: is a primary, chronic neurobiologic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• Behavioral health: is a term used to refer to both mental health and substance use. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Court: means any duly constituted district court or court having family or juvenile jurisdiction. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Dangerous to self: means the condition of a person whose behavior, significant threats or inaction supports a reasonable expectation that there is a substantial risk that he will inflict physical or sever emotional harm upon his own person. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Department: means the Louisiana Department of Health. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Gravely disabled: means the condition of a person who is unable to provide for his own basic physical needs, such as essential food, clothing, medical care, or shelter, as a result of serious mental illness or a substance-related or addictive disorder and is unable to survive safely in freedom or protect himself from serious physical harm or significant psychiatric deterioration. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Local governing entity: means an integrated human services delivery system with local accountability and management and which provides behavioral health and developmental disabilities services through local human services districts and authorities. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Medical psychologist: means a psychologist who has undergone specialized training in clinical psychopharmacology and has passed a national proficiency examination in psychopharmacology approved by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners and who holds a current and valid license from the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Mental health advocacy service: means a service established by the state of Louisiana for the purpose of providing legal counsel and representation for persons with mental illness or substance-related or addictive disorders and for ensuring that the legal rights of those persons are protected. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Petition: means a written civil complaint filed by a person of legal age alleging that a person has a mental illness or is suffering from a substance-related or addictive disorder and requires judicial commitment to a treatment facility. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Physician: means an individual licensed to practice medicine by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners in active practice or an individual in a post-graduate medical training program of an accredited medical school in Louisiana or a medical officer similarly qualified by the government of the United States while in the state in the performance of his official duties. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner: means an advanced practice registered nurse licensed to practice as a nurse practitioner or clinical nurse specialist by the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, in accordance with the provisions of La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Psychiatrist: means a physician who has at least three years of formal training or primary experience in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Psychologist: means an individual licensed to practice psychology in Louisiana in accordance with La. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Respondent: means a person alleged to have a mental illness or be suffering from a substance-related or addictive disorder and for whom an application for commitment to a treatment facility has been filed. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2
• Service of process: The service of writs or summonses to the appropriate party.
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Treatment: means an active effort to accomplish an improvement in the mental condition or behavior of a patient or to prevent deterioration in his condition or behavior. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 28:2