Notwithstanding any evidentiary privilege a qualified mental health professional may have, including §§ 24-1-207, 63-11-213, 63-22-114, and 63-23-109, the qualified mental health professional may be compelled to testify in:

(1) Judicial proceedings under this title to commit a person with mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, or developmental disability to treatment if the qualified mental health professional decides that the service recipient is in need of compulsory care and treatment;

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 33-3-114

  • 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
  • Qualified mental health professional: means a person who is licensed in the state, if required for the profession, and who is a psychiatrist. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
  • 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
  • Service recipient: means a person who is receiving service, has applied for service, or for whom someone has applied for or proposed service because the person has mental illness or serious emotional disturbance. See Tennessee Code 33-1-101
  • Testify: Answer questions in court.
(2) In proceedings for which the qualified mental health professional was ordered by the court to examine the service recipient if the service recipient was advised that communications to the qualified mental health professional would not be privileged;
(3) Judicial proceedings under chapter 8, part 3 of this title; and
(4) Guardianship, conservatorship, and veterans’ guardianship proceedings under title 34.
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