(1) Mental health board proceedings shall be deemed to have commenced upon the earlier of (a) the filing of a petition under section 71-921 or (b) notification by the county attorney to the law enforcement officer who took the subject into emergency protective custody under section 71-920 or the administrator of the treatment center or medical facility having charge of the subject of his or her intention to file such petition. The county attorney shall file such petition as soon as reasonably practicable after such notification.

Terms Used In Nebraska Statutes 71-922

  • Administrator: means the administrator or other chief administrative officer of a treatment facility or his or her designee. See Nebraska Statutes 71-904
  • Attorney: shall mean attorney at law. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
  • Mental health board: means a board created under section 71-915. See Nebraska Statutes 71-905
  • Mentally ill: means having a psychiatric disorder that involves a severe or substantial impairment of a person's thought processes, sensory input, mood balance, memory, or ability to reason which substantially interferes with such person's ability to meet the ordinary demands of living or interferes with the safety or well-being of others. See Nebraska Statutes 71-907
  • 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.
  • Subject: means any person concerning whom a certificate or petition has been filed under the Nebraska Mental Health Commitment Act. See Nebraska Statutes 71-912

(2) A petition filed by the county attorney under section 71-921 may contain a request for the emergency protective custody and evaluation of the subject prior to commencement of a mental health board hearing pursuant to such petition with respect to the subject. Upon receipt of such request and upon a finding of probable cause to believe that the subject is mentally ill and dangerous as alleged in the petition, the court or chairperson of the mental health board may issue a warrant directing the sheriff to take custody of the subject. If the subject is already in emergency protective custody under a certificate filed under section 71-919, a copy of such certificate shall be filed with the petition. The subject in such custody shall be held in the nearest appropriate and available medical facility and shall not be placed in a jail. Each county shall make arrangements with appropriate medical facilities inside or outside the county for such purpose and shall pay the cost of the emergency protective custody of persons from such county in such facilities.

(3) The petition and all subsequent pleadings and filings in the case shall be entitled In the Interest of …….., Alleged to be Mentally Ill and Dangerous. The county attorney may dismiss the petition at any time prior to the commencement of the hearing of the mental health board under section 71-924, and upon such motion by the county attorney, the mental health board shall dismiss the petition.

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