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Texas Health & Safety Code - Section 462.0235. Discharge Or Release Of Minor 16 Or 17 Years Of Age

Legal Research Home > Texas Laws > Health & Safety Code > Texas Health & Safety Code - Section 462.0235. Discharge Or Release Of Minor 16 Or 17 Years Of Age

§ 462.0235. DISCHARGE OR RELEASE OF MINOR 16 OR 17 YEARS 
OF AGE.  (a) Except as provided by this section, a facility shall 
release a minor who is 16 or 17 years of age within a reasonable 
time, not to exceed 96 hours, after:
		(1)  the minor requests in writing to be released;  or                        
		(2)  for a minor admitted under Section 
462.022(a)(3)(A), the minor's parent, managing conservator, or 
guardian requests the release in writing.
	(b)  A facility is not required to release a minor who is 16 
or 17 years of age within the period described by Subsection (a) if:
		(1)  the request is filed with the facility by the minor 
before the 15th day after the date of the minor's admission to the 
facility;  or
		(2)  the request is filed with the facility by the minor 
on or after the 15th day after the minor's date of admission to the 
facility and, not later than 96 hours after the request is filed:
			(A)  the minor files with the facility a written 
withdrawal of the minor's request;  or
			(B)  an examining physician places in the minor's 
medical record a certificate of medical examination described by 
Subsection (c).
	(c)  The certificate of medical examination placed in a 
minor's medical record under Subsection (b)(2)(B) must include:
		(1)  the name and address of the examining physician;                         
		(2)  the name and address of the examined minor;                              
		(3)  the date and place of the examination;                                   
		(4)  a brief diagnosis of the examined minor's physical 
and mental condition;
		(5)  the period, if any, during which the examined 
minor has been under the care of the examining physician;
		(6)  an accurate description of the chemical dependency 
treatment, if any, administered to the examined minor by or under 
the direction of the examining physician;  and
		(7)  the examining physician's opinion that:                                  
			(A)  the examined minor is chemically dependent;                             
			(B)  there is no reasonable alternative to the 
treatment the physician recommends for the examined minor;  and
			(C)  as a result of the examined minor's chemical 
dependency, the minor, if released, is likely to cause serious harm 
to the minor or others or:
				(i)  would suffer severe and abnormal 
mental, emotional, or physical distress;
				(ii)  would experience a substantial mental 
or physical deterioration of the minor's ability to function 
independently that would be manifested by the minor's inability, 
for reasons other than indigence, to provide for the minor's basic 
needs, including food, clothing, health, and safety;  and
				(iii)  would not be able to make a rational 
and informed decision as to whether to submit to treatment.
	(d)  A facility shall release a minor whose release was 
postponed under Subsection (b)(2)(B) on the 15th day after the date 
of the most recent examination for which a certificate described by 
Subsection (c) is performed unless the physician conducts an 
additional examination of the minor and places another certificate 
of examination described by Subsection (c) in the minor's medical 
record.
	(e)  If a minor who is 16 or 17 years of age requests to be 
released from a facility on or after the 60th day after the date of 
the minor's admission to the facility, the facility shall release 
the minor within a reasonable time, not to exceed 96 hours, unless:
		(1)  an application for court-ordered treatment of the 
minor or for emergency detention of the minor is filed;  and
		(2)  the minor is detained in accordance with this 
chapter.                 
	(f)  If extremely hazardous weather conditions exist or a 
disaster occurs, the facility administrator may request the judge 
of a court that has jurisdiction over proceedings brought under 
Subchapter D to extend the period during which a minor may be 
detained under this section.  The judge or a magistrate appointed by 
the judge may, by written order made each day, extend the period 
during which the minor may be detained until 4 p.m. on the first 
succeeding business day.  The written order must declare that an 
emergency exists because of the weather or the occurrence of a 
disaster.

Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1216, § 5, eff. June 15, 2001.          

Last modified: August 11, 2007