WASHINGTON STATUTES AND CODES

71.34.740 - Commitment hearing -- Requirements -- Findings by court -- Commitment -- Release.

Commitment hearing — Requirements — Findings by court — Commitment — Release.

(1) A commitment hearing shall be held within seventy-two hours of the minor's admission, excluding Saturday, Sunday, and holidays, unless a continuance is requested by the minor or the minor's attorney.

     (2) The commitment hearing shall be conducted at the superior court or an appropriate place at the facility in which the minor is being detained.

     (3) At the commitment hearing, the evidence in support of the petition shall be presented by the county prosecutor.

     (4) The minor shall be present at the commitment hearing unless the minor, with the assistance of the minor's attorney, waives the right to be present at the hearing.

     (5) If the parents are opposed to the petition, they may be represented at the hearing and shall be entitled to court-appointed counsel if they are indigent.

     (6) At the commitment hearing, the minor shall have the following rights:

     (a) To be represented by an attorney;

     (b) To present evidence on his or her own behalf;

     (c) To question persons testifying in support of the petition.

     (7) The court at the time of the commitment hearing and before an order of commitment is entered shall inform the minor both orally and in writing that the failure to make a good faith effort to seek voluntary treatment as provided in RCW 71.34.730 will result in the loss of his or her firearm rights if the minor is subsequently detained for involuntary treatment under this section.

     (8) If the minor has received medication within twenty-four hours of the hearing, the court shall be informed of that fact and of the probable effects of the medication.

     (9) Rules of evidence shall not apply in fourteen-day commitment hearings.

     (10) For a fourteen-day commitment, the court must find by a preponderance of the evidence that:

     (a) The minor has a mental disorder and presents a "likelihood of serious harm" or is "gravely disabled";

     (b) The minor is in need of evaluation and treatment of the type provided by the inpatient evaluation and treatment facility to which continued inpatient care is sought or is in need of less restrictive alternative treatment found to be in the best interests of the minor; and

     (c) The minor is unwilling or unable in good faith to consent to voluntary treatment.

     (11) If the court finds that the minor meets the criteria for a fourteen-day commitment, the court shall either authorize commitment of the minor for inpatient treatment or for less restrictive alternative treatment upon such conditions as are necessary. If the court determines that the minor does not meet the criteria for a fourteen-day commitment, the minor shall be released.

     (12) Nothing in this section prohibits the professional person in charge of the evaluation and treatment facility from releasing the minor at any time, when, in the opinion of the professional person in charge of the facility, further inpatient treatment is no longer necessary. The release may be subject to reasonable conditions if appropriate.

     Whenever a minor is released under this section, the professional person in charge shall within three days, notify the court in writing of the release.

     (13) A minor who has been committed for fourteen days shall be released at the end of that period unless a petition for one hundred eighty-day commitment is pending before the court.