IOWA STATUTES AND CODES
125.2 - DEFINITIONS.
125.2 DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this chapter, unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise:
1. "Board" means the state board of health created pursuant
to chapter 136.
2. "Chemical dependency" means an addiction or dependency,
either physical or psychological, on a chemical substance. Persons
who take medically prescribed drugs shall not be considered
chemically dependent if the drug is medically prescribed and the
intake is proportionate to the medical need.
3. "Chemical substance" means alcohol, wine, spirits, and
beer as defined in chapter 123 and controlled substances as defined
in section 124.101.
4. "Chief medical officer" means the medical director in
charge of a public or private hospital, or the director's
physician-designee. This chapter does not negate the authority
otherwise reposed by chapter 226 in the respective superintendents of
the state mental health institutes to make decisions regarding the
appropriateness of admissions or discharges of patients of those
institutes, however, it is the intent of this chapter that a
superintendent who is not a licensed physician shall be guided in
these decisions by the chief medical officer of the institute.
5. "Chronic substance abuser" means a person who meets all of
the following criteria:
a. Habitually lacks self control as to the use of chemical
substances to the extent that the person is likely to seriously
endanger the person's health, or to physically injure the person's
self or others, if allowed to remain at liberty without treatment.
b. Lacks sufficient judgment to make responsible decisions
with respect to the person's hospitalization or treatment.
6. "Clerk" means the clerk of the district court.
7. "Department" means the Iowa department of public health.
8. "Director" means the director of the Iowa department of
public health.
9. "Facility" means an institution, a detoxification center,
or an installation providing care, maintenance and treatment for
substance abusers licensed by the department under section 125.13,
hospitals licensed under chapter 135B, or the state mental health
institutes designated by chapter 226.
10. "Incapacitated by a chemical substance" means that a
person, as a result of the use of a chemical substance, is
unconscious or has the person's judgment otherwise so impaired that
the person is incapable of realizing and making a rational decision
with respect to the need for treatment.
11. "Incompetent person" means a person who has been adjudged
incompetent by a court of law.
12. "Interested person" means a person who, in the discretion
of the court, is legitimately concerned that a respondent receive
substance abuse treatment services.
13. "Intoxicated person" means a person whose mental or
physical functioning is substantially impaired as a result of the use
of a chemical substance.
14. "Psychiatric advanced registered nurse practitioner"
means an individual currently licensed as a registered nurse under
chapter 152 or 152E who holds a national certification in psychiatric
health care and who is registered with the board of nursing as an
advanced registered nurse practitioner.
15. "Residence" means the place where a person resides. For
the purpose of determining which Iowa county, if any, is liable
pursuant to this chapter for payments of costs attributable to its
residents, the following rules shall apply:
a. If a person claims an Iowa homestead, then the person's
residence shall be in the county where that homestead is claimed,
irrespective of any other factors.
b. If paragraph "a" does not apply, and the person
continuously has been provided or has maintained living quarters
within any county of this state for a period of not less than one
year, whether or not at the same location within that county, then
the person's residence shall be in that county, irrespective of other
factors. However, this paragraph shall not apply to unemancipated
persons under eighteen years of age who are wards of this state.
c. If paragraphs "a" and "b" do not apply, or, if the
person is under eighteen years of age, is unemancipated, and is a
ward of this state, then the person shall be unclassified with
respect to county of residence, and payment of all costs shall be
made by the department as provided in this chapter.
d. An unemancipated person under eighteen years of age who is
not a ward of the state shall be deemed to reside where the parent
having legal custody, or the legal guardian, or legal custodian of
that person has residence as determined according to this subsection.
e. The provisions of this subsection shall not be used in any
case to which section 125.43 is applicable.
16. "Respondent" means a person against whom an application
is filed under section 125.75.
17. "Substance abuse" means the use of chemical substances by
persons suffering from chemical dependency, persons who are
incapacitated by a chemical substance, substance abusers, or chronic
substance abusers.
18. "Substance abuser" means a person who habitually lacks
self-control as to the use of chemical substances or uses chemical
substances to the extent that the person's health is substantially
impaired or endangered or that the person's social or economic
function is substantially disrupted. Section History: Early Form
[C62, 66, § 123A.1; C71, 73, § 123A.1, 123B.1; C75, 77, § 125.2;
C79, 81, § 125.2, 229.50; 81 Acts, ch 58, § 1; 82 Acts, ch 1212, § 1]
Section History: Recent Form
86 Acts, ch 1245, § 1122; 89 Acts, ch 197, § 21; 90 Acts, ch 1085,
§ 1, 2; 2005 Acts, ch 175, §59, 60; 2008 Acts, ch 1082, §1
Referred to in § 125.3, 125.7, 125.44, 282.19, 321J.24, 321J.25,
411.6, 600A.8, 709.16