1. If requested to do so by the head of a mental health program, the sheriff of the county where a patient absent without authorization is found shall apprehend and return him to the program.

2. The head of the program may request the return of an absent patient under subsection 1 of this section only under one or more of the following circumstances:

Terms Used In Missouri Laws 632.455

  • following: when used by way of reference to any section of the statutes, mean the section next preceding or next following that in which the reference is made, unless some other section is expressly designated in the reference. See Missouri Laws 1.020
  • 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.

(1) The patient is a minor whose admission was applied for by his parent or legal custodian, who has not requested the minor patient’s release;

(2) The patient is a minor under jurisdiction of the juvenile court;

(3) The patient has been declared legally incapacitated and his guardian has not requested his release;

(4) The patient was committed to the department under chapter 552 or this chapter;

(5) The patient’s condition is of such a nature that, for the protection of the patient or others, the head of the program determines that the patient’s return to the program is necessary as noted in the patient’s records, in which case civil detention procedures shall be initiated upon return to the program.