§ 7612 - Application for involuntary treatment - Vermont Statutes

§ 7612. Application for involuntary treatment

(a) An interested party may, by filing a written application, commence proceedings for the involuntary treatment of an individual by judicial process.

(b) The application shall be filed in the district court of the proposed patient's residence or, in the case of a nonresident, in any district court.

(c) If the application is filed under sections 7508 or 7620 of this title, it shall be filed in the district court in which the hospital is located.

(d) The application shall contain:

(1) The name and address of the applicant;

(2) A statement of the current and relevant facts upon which the allegation of mental illness and need for treatment is based. The application shall be signed by the applicant under penalty of perjury.

(e) The application shall be accompanied by:

(1) A certificate of a licensed physician, which shall be executed under penalty of perjury stating that he has examined the proposed patient within five days of the date the petition is filed, and is of the opinion that the proposed patient is a person in need of treatment, including the current and relevant facts and circumstances upon which the physician's opinion is based; or

(2) A written statement by the applicant that the proposed patient refused to submit to an examination by a licensed physician.

(f) Before an examining physician completes the certificate of examination, he shall consider available alternative forms of care and treatment that might be adequate to provide for the person's needs, without requiring hospitalization. (Added 1977, No. 252 (Adj. Sess.), § 19.)