Terms used in this title mean:

(1) “Administrator,” that person designated by the secretary of social services to discharge the administrative functions of the Human Services Center including the delegation of responsibilities to the appropriate Human Services Center staff;

Terms Used In South Dakota Codified Laws 27A-1-1

  • Person: includes natural persons, partnerships, associations, cooperative corporations, limited liability companies, and corporations. See South Dakota Codified Laws 2-14-2

(2) “Appropriate regional facility,” a facility designated by the department for the prehearing custody of an individual apprehended under authority of this title which is as close as possible in the immediate area to where the apprehension occurred; and is no more restrictive of mental, social, or physical freedom than necessary to protect the individual or others from physical injury. In determining the least restrictive facility, considerations shall include the preferences of the individual, the environmental restrictiveness of the setting, the proximity of the facility to the patient’s residence, and the availability of family, legal and other community resources and support;

(3) “Center,” the South Dakota Human Services Center;

(4) “Chronic disability,” a condition evidenced by a reasonable expectation, based on the person’s psychiatric history, that the person is incapable of making an informed medical decision because of a severe mental illness, is unlikely to comply with treatment as shown by a failure to comply with a prescribed course of treatment outside of an inpatient setting on two or more occasions within any continuous twelve month period, and, as a consequence, the person’s current condition is likely to deteriorate until it is probable that the person will be a danger to self or others;

(5) “Co-occurring substance use disorder,” refers to persons who have at least one mental disorder as well as an alcohol or drug use disorder;

(6) “Danger to others,” a reasonable expectation that the person will inflict serious physical injury upon another person in the near future, due to a severe mental illness, as evidenced by the person’s treatment history and the person’s recent acts or omissions which constitute a danger of serious physical injury for another individual. Such acts may include a recently expressed threat if the threat is such that, if considered in the light of its context or in light of the person’s recent previous acts or omissions, it is substantially supportive of an expectation that the threat will be carried out;

(7) “Danger to self,”

(a) A reasonable expectation that the person will inflict serious physical injury upon himself or herself in the near future, due to a severe mental illness, as evidenced by the person’s treatment history and the person’s recent acts or omissions which constitute a danger of suicide or self-inflicted serious physical injury. Such acts may include a recently expressed threat if the threat is such that, if considered in the light of its context or in light of the person’s recent previous acts or omissions, it is substantially supportive of an expectation that the threat will be carried out; or

(b) A reasonable expectation of danger of serious personal harm in the near future, due to a severe mental illness, as evidenced by the person’s treatment history and the person’s recent acts or omissions which demonstrate an inability to provide for some basic human needs such as food, clothing, shelter, essential medical care, or personal safety, or by arrests for criminal behavior which occur as a result of the worsening of the person’s severe mental illness;

(8) “Department,” the Department of Social Services;

(9) “Essential medical care,” medical care, that in its absence, a person cannot improve or a person’s condition may deteriorate, or the person may improve but only at a significantly slower rate;

(10) “Facility director,” that person designated to discharge the administrative functions of an inpatient psychiatric facility, other than the center, including the delegation of responsibilities to the appropriate facility staff;