(a) A person must not be deprived of liberty on the grounds that the person has or is believed to have a mental illness or a serious emotional disturbance, or is in need of service for such a condition except in accordance with this title.

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 33-3-101

  • Chief officer: means the person with overall authority for a public or private hospital or treatment resource, or the person's designee. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
  • Mental illness: means a psychiatric disorder, alcohol dependence, or drug dependence, but does not include intellectual disability or other developmental disabilities as defined in title 52. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in a perceivable form. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Serious emotional disturbance: means a condition in a child who currently or at any time during the past year has had a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder of sufficient duration to meet psychiatric diagnostic criteria that results in functional impairment that substantially interferes with or limits the child's role or functioning in family, school, or community activities and includes any mental disorder, regardless of whether it is of biological etiology. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
(b) A person with mental illness or serious emotional disturbance has the same rights as all other persons except to the extent that the person’s rights are curtailed in accordance with this title or other law.
(c) A person with mental illness or serious emotional disturbance shall be provided services or supports, to the extent that facilities, equipment and personnel are available, in accordance with community standards.
(d) The chief officer shall keep records detailing services or supports received by each person. Records shall be preserved by the chief officer for not less than ten (10) years after termination of service. The records may be generated, maintained, or transferred in whole or in part to any recording medium that assures accurate preservation of the record. If a record is transferred from one medium to another, the source record may be destroyed upon determination by the chief officer that the reproduced record is true and correct and will be accurately preserved. The reproduced record is deemed to be the original record.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Part 1 Contents