SECTIONS 4800-4805 - California Statutes

WELFARE AND INSTITUTIONS CODE

SECTION 4800-4805

4800. (a) Every adult who is or has been admitted or committed to a
state hospital, developmental center, community care facility, as
defined in Section 1502 of the Health and Safety Code, health
facility, as defined in Section 1250 of the Health and Safety Code,
or any other appropriate placement permitted by law, as a
developmentally disabled patient shall have a right to a hearing by
writ of habeas corpus for his or her release from the hospital,
developmental center, community care facility, or health facility
after he or she or any person acting on his or her behalf makes a
request for release to any member of the staff of the state hospital,
developmental center, community care facility, or health facility or
to any employee of a regional center.
(b) The member of the staff or regional center employee to whom a
request for release is made shall promptly provide the person making
the request for his or her signature or mark a copy of the form set
forth below. The member of the staff, or regional center employee, as
the case may be, shall fill in his or her own name and the date,
and, if the person signs by mark, shall fill in the person's name,
and shall then deliver the completed copy to the medical director of
the state hospital or developmental center, the administrator or
director of the community care facility, or the administrator or
director of the health facility, as the case may be, or his or her
designee, notifying him or her of the request. As soon as possible,
the person notified shall inform the superior court for the
appropriate county, as indicated in Section 4801, of the request for
release and shall transmit a copy of the request for release to the
person's parent or conservator together with a statement that notice
of judicial proceedings taken pursuant to that request will be
forwarded by the court. The copy of the request for release and the
notice shall be sent by the person notified by registered or
certified mail with proper postage prepaid, addressed to the
addressee's last known address, and with a return receipt requested.
The person notified shall also transmit a copy of the request for
release and the name and address of the person's parent or
conservator to the court.
(c) Any person who intentionally violates this section is guilty
of a misdemeanor.
(d) The form for a request for release shall be substantially as
follows:

(Name of the state hospital, developmental center, community care
facility, or health facility or regional center) ____ day of ____
19__
I, ____ (member of the staff of the state hospital, developmental
center, community care facility, or health facility or employee of
the regional center), have today received a request for the release
from ____ (name of state hospital, developmental center, or community
care facility) State Hospital, developmental center, community care
facility, or health facility of ____ (name of patient) from the
undersigned patient on his or her own behalf or from the undersigned
person on behalf of the patient.

___________________________________
Signature or mark of patient making
request
for release
____________________________________
Signature or mark of person making
request
on behalf of patient

4801. (a) Judicial review shall be in the superior court for the
county in which the state hospital, developmental center, community
care facility, or health facility is located, except that, if the
adult has been found incompetent to stand trial and has been
committed pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 1367) of
Title 10 of Part 2 of the Penal Code, judicial review shall be in the
superior court of the county that determined the question of the
mental competence of the defendant. The adult requesting to be
released shall be informed of his or her right to counsel by a member
of the staff of the state hospital, developmental center, community
care facility, or health facility and by the court; and if he or she
does not have an attorney for the proceedings, the court shall
immediately appoint the public defender or other attorney to assist
him or her in the preparation of a petition for the writ of habeas
corpus and to represent him or her in the proceedings. The person
shall pay the costs of those legal services if he or she is able.
(b) At the time the petition for the writ of habeas corpus is
filed with the court, the clerk of the court shall transmit a copy of
the petition, together with notification as to the time and place of
any evidentiary hearing in the matter, to the parent or conservator
of the person seeking release or for whom release is sought and to
the director of the appropriate regional center. Notice shall also be
provided to the director of the appropriate developmental center if
the person seeking release or for whom release is sought resides in a
developmental center. The notice shall be sent by registered or
certified mail with proper postage prepaid, addressed to the
addressee's last known address, and with a return receipt requested.
(c) The court shall either release the adult or order an
evidentiary hearing to be held not sooner than five judicial days nor
more than 10 judicial days after the petition and notice to the
adult's parent or conservator and to the director of the appropriate
regional center and developmental center are deposited in the United
States mail pursuant to this section.
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), if the court finds (A)
that the adult requesting release or for whom release is requested is
not developmentally disabled, or (B) that he or she is
developmentally disabled and that he or she is able to provide safely
for his or her basic personal needs for food, shelter, and clothing,
he or she shall be released within 72 hours. If the court finds that
he or she is developmentally disabled and that he or she is unable
to provide safely for his or her basic personal needs for food,
shelter, or clothing, but that a responsible person or a regional
center or other public or private agency is willing and able to
provide therefor, the court shall release the developmentally
disabled adult to the responsible person or regional center or other
public or private agency, as the case may be, subject to any
conditions that the court deems proper for the welfare of the
developmentally disabled adult and that are consistent with the
purposes of this division.
(2) If the person is charged with a violent felony and has been
committed to his or her current placement pursuant to Section 1370.1
of the Penal Code or Section 6500, and the court finds (A) that the
adult requesting release or for whom release is requested is not
developmentally disabled or mentally retarded, or (B) that he or she
is able to provide safely for his or her basic personal needs for
food, shelter, and clothing, the court shall, before releasing the
person, determine that the release will not pose a danger to the
health or safety of others due to the person's known behavior. If the
court finds there is no danger pursuant to the finding required by
subparagraph (D) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section
1370.1 of the Penal Code, the person shall be released within 72
hours. If the person's release poses a danger to the health or safety
of others, the court may grant or deny the request, taking into
account the danger to the health or safety of others posed by the
person. If the court finds that release of the person can be made
subject to conditions that the court deems proper for the
preservation of public health and safety and the welfare of the
person, the person shall be released subject to those conditions.
(d) If in any proceeding under this section, the court finds that
the adult is developmentally disabled and has no parent or
conservator, and is in need of a conservator, the court shall order
the appropriate regional center or the state department to initiate,
or cause to be initiated, proceedings for the appointment of a
conservator for the developmentally disabled adult.
(e) This section shall become operative January 1, 1988.

4802. This chapter shall not be construed to impair the right of a
conservator of an adult developmentally disabled patient to remove
the patient from the state hospital at any time pursuant to Section
4825.

4803. If a regional center recommends that a person be admitted to
a community care facility or health facility as a developmentally
disabled resident, the employee or designee of the regional center
responsible for making the recommendations shall certify in writing
that neither the person recommended for admission to a community care
facility or health facility, nor the parent of a minor or
conservator of an adult, if appropriate, nor the person or agency
appointed pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 4548 or subdivision
(e) of Section 4705 has made an objection to the admission to the
person making the recommendation. The regional center shall transmit
the certificate, or a copy thereof, to the community care facility or
health facility.
A community care facility or health facility shall not admit any
adult as a developmentally disabled patient on recommendation of a
regional center unless a copy of the certificate has been transmitted
pursuant to this section.
Any person who, knowing that objection to a community care
facility or health facility admission has been made, certifies that
no objection has been made, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Objections to proposed placements shall be resolved by a fair
hearing procedure pursuant to Section 4700.

4804. Whenever a proceeding is held in a superior court under the
provisions of this chapter, involving a person who has been placed in
a state hospital located outside the county of residence of the
person, the provisions of this section shall apply. The appropriate
financial officer or other designated official of the county in which
the proceeding is held may make out a statement of all of the costs
incurred by the county for the investigation, preparation, and
conduct of the proceedings, and the costs of appeal, if any. The
statement may be certified by a judge of the superior court of the
county. The statement may then be sent to the county of residence of
the person, which shall reimburse the county providing the services.
If it is not possible to determine the actual county of residence of
the person, the statement may be sent to the county in which the
person was originally detained, which shall reimburse the county
providing the services.

4805. Objections to proposed transfers between state hospitals
shall be resolved pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section
4700).