(a) The commissioner may provide for and authorize the transportation and transfer from this state to the service recipient‘s state of residence of a person with mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, or developmental disability who is a resident of a state not party to the Interstate Compact on Mental Health, codified in § 33-9-201, if the nonparty state has reciprocal statutes conferring similar authority and if the service recipient meets the applicable standards for service under this title other than any requirement of being a state resident.

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 33-3-303

  • Commissioner: means the commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services. 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
  • 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
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(b)

(1) Subject to the availability of suitable accommodations, a nonresident person with mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, or developmental disability may be hospitalized or admitted under this title for observation, diagnosis and treatment, but in no case for a period longer than thirty (30) days, pending transfer to the state of residence.
(2) However, the commissioner may designate certain nonresident persons with mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, or developmental disabilities, not to exceed a total of one hundred (100), as “commissioner’s service recipients,” who because of their nonresident status in Tennessee are not entitled to hospitalization or admission in this state, but who, having families residing in the state, may be eligible for psychiatric hospitalization or admission, care and treatment for compassionate reasons.
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