General Laws of Massachusetts - Chapter 123 Mental Health
- Massachusetts General Laws - Definitions - Chapter 123, Section 1
The following words as used in this section and sections two to thirty-seven, inclusive, shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the following meanings: “Commissioner”,...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Regulations - Chapter 123, Section 2
The department shall, in accordance with section two of chapter thirty A and subject to appropriation, adopt regulations consistent with this chapter which establish procedures...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Transfers; notice; emergencies - Chapter 123, Section 3
The department may transfer any person from any facility to any other facility which the department determines is suitable for the care and treatment of...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Periodic review; notice - Chapter 123, Section 4
Each person within the care of the department and each person at the Bridgewater state hospital under the provisions of this chapter relative to the...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Commitment or retention hearings; right to counsel; medical examination; notice - Chapter 123, Section 5
Whenever the provisions of this chapter require that a hearing be conducted in any court for the commitment or further retention of a person to...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Retention of persons; validity of orders; hearing - Chapter 123, Section 6
(a) No person shall be retained at a facility or at the Bridgewater state hospital except under the provisions of paragraph (a) of section ten,...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Commitment and retention of dangerous persons; petition; notice; hearing - Chapter 123, Section 7
(a) The superintendent of a facility may petition the district court or the division of the juvenile court department in whose jurisdiction the facility is...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Proceedings to commit dangerous persons; notice; hearing; orders; jurisdiction - Chapter 123, Section 8
(a) After a hearing, unless such hearing is waived in writing, the district court or the division of the juvenile court department shall not order...
- Massachusetts General Laws - [There is no 123:8A.] - Chapter 123, Section 8A
[There is no
- Massachusetts General Laws - Treatment of committed persons with antipsychotic medication; petition; notice; hearing; guardian - Chapter 123, Section 8B
(a) With respect to any patient who is the subject of a petition for a commitment or an order of a commitment for care and...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Review of matters of law; application for discharge; notice; hearing - Chapter 123, Section 9
(a) Matters of law arising in commitment hearings, antipsychotic medication hearings or incompetency for trial proceedings in a district court may be reviewed by the...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Voluntary admissions; consultation with attorney; discharge; outpatients; veterans - Chapter 123, Section 10
(a) Pursuant to departmental regulations on admission procedures, the superintendent may receive and retain on a voluntary basis any person providing the person is in...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Voluntary admissions; withdrawal; notice; examination; retention - Chapter 123, Section 11
Any person retained in a facility under the provisions of paragraph (a) of section ten shall be free to leave such facility at any time,...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Emergency restraint and hospitalization of persons posing risk of serious harm by reason of mental illness - Chapter 123, Section 12
(a) Any physician who is licensed pursuant to section 2 of chapter 112 or qualified psychiatric nurse mental health clinical specialist authorized to practice as...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Transfer of dangerous males to Bridgewater state hospital; retention period; further commitment; procedure - Chapter 123, Section 13
If the superintendent of any facility determines that failure to retain a male resident therein in strict security would create a likelihood of serious harm...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Transfers from Bridgewater state hospital to other facilities - Chapter 123, Section 14
Whenever the medical director of the Bridgewater state hospital certifies that the failure to retain any person in strict security would not create a likelihood...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Competence to stand trial or criminal responsibility; examination; period of observation; reports; hearing; commitment; delinquents - Chapter 123, Section 15
(a) Whenever a court of competent jurisdiction doubts whether a defendant in a criminal case is competent to stand trial or is criminally responsible by...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Hospitalization of persons incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of mental illness; examination period; commitment; hearing; restrictions; dismissal of criminal charges - Chapter 123, Section 16
(a) The court having jurisdiction over the criminal proceedings may order that a person who has been found incompetent to stand trial or not guilty...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Periodic review of incompetence to stand trial; petition; hearing; continued treatment; defense to charges; release - Chapter 123, Section 17
(a) The periodic review of a person found incompetent to stand trial shall include a clinical opinion with regard to the person’s competence to stand...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Hospitalization of mentally ill prisoners; examination; reports; hearing; commitment; voluntary admission; reduction of sentence; discharge - Chapter 123, Section 18
(a) If the person in charge of any place of detention within the commonwealth has reason to believe that a person confined therein is in...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Facility residents; contribution towards cost of counsel - Chapter 123, Section 18A
A person who is a resident in a facility of the department of mental health or in the Bridgewater state hospital and who has funds...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Parties or witnesses; determination of mental condition - Chapter 123, Section 19
In order to determine the mental condition of any party or witness before any court of the commonwealth, the presiding judge may, in his discretion,...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Extradition of mental institution escapees - Chapter 123, Section 20
(a) The governor may upon demand deliver to the executive of any other state any person who has escaped from an institution for the mentally...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Transportation of mentally ill persons; restraint - Chapter 123, Section 21
Any person who transports a mentally ill person to or from a facility for any purpose authorized under this chapter shall not use any restraint...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Civil liability of physicians, qualified psychologists, qualified psychiatric nurse mental health clinic specialists, police officers and licensed independent clinical social workers - Chapter 123, Section 22
Physicians, qualified psychologists, qualified psychiatric nurse mental health clinical specialists, police officers and licensed independent clinical social workers shall be immune from civil suits for...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Rights of persons receiving services from programs or facilities of department of mental health - Chapter 123, Section 23
This section sets forth the statutory rights of all persons regardless of age receiving services from any program or facility, or part thereof, operated by,...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Competent interpreter services in hospitals which provide acute psychiatric services - Chapter 123, Section 23A
(a) For purposes of this section the following words shall have the following meanings: “Non-English speaker”, a person who cannot speak or understand, or has...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Legal capacity of persons admitted or committed - Chapter 123, Section 24
No person shall be deemed to be incompetent to manage his affairs, to contract, to hold professional or occupational or vehicle operators licenses or to...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Guardian or conservator; appointment - Chapter 123, Section 25
In addition to the periodic review under section four of this chapter, whenever the superintendent has reason to believe that a person who has been...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Deposit of funds held in trust for inpatients or residents; unclaimed funds and personal property; fiduciaries - Chapter 123, Section 26
(a) The superintendent may deposit in any bank organized and existing under the laws of the commonwealth funds belonging to persons who are inpatients or...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Administration of estate of deceased inpatient or resident - Chapter 123, Section 27
If an inpatient or resident of any facility dies leaving an estate which does not exceed five thousand dollars in value, the superintendent shall notify...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Violent or unnatural death of patients; notice to district attorney - Chapter 123, Section 28
Upon the death of any person confined to a mental institution under the control of the department, the superintendent of such institution shall, if he...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Instruction and education; work programs; sale of work products - Chapter 123, Section 29
(a) In cooperation with other state departments and agencies the department shall cause to be given to persons under its care instruction and education as...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Unauthorized absence of patients; notification of police, et al.; return - Chapter 123, Section 30
If a patient or resident in a facility of the department is absent without authorization the superintendent of the facility shall notify the state and...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Medicine and drugs; indigent patients - Chapter 123, Section 31
Medicine and drugs shall be furnished free of charge to any patient at the outpatient clinic of a facility of the department who, in the...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Charges for care of persons in facilities - Chapter 123, Section 32
The department may make charges for the care of any person in its facilities. To the extent that any person in its facilities is eligible...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Expenses of apprehension, examination, hearing, commitment or delivery; certification; audit; payment; fees - Chapter 123, Section 33
All necessary expenses attending the apprehension, examination, hearing, commitment or delivery of a mentally ill person, or an alleged alcoholic shall be allowed and certified...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Commitment or transfer to Veterans Administration or other federal agency - Chapter 123, Section 34
(a) The judgment or order of commitment by a court of competent jurisdiction of another state or of the district of Columbia, committing a person...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Commitment of alcoholics or substance abusers - Chapter 123, Section 35
For the purposes of this section, “alcoholic” shall mean a person who chronically or habitually consumes alcoholic beverages to the extent that (1) such use...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Patient records; inspection; maintenance and retention - Chapter 123, Section 36
The department shall keep records of the admission, treatment and periodic review of all persons admitted to facilities under its supervision. Such records shall be...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Court records of examination or commitment; privacy - Chapter 123, Section 36A
All reports of examinations made to a court pursuant to sections one to eighteen, inclusive, section forty-seven and forty-eight shall be private except in the...
- Massachusetts General Laws - Duty to warn patient’s potential victims; cause of action - Chapter 123, Section 36B
(1) There shall be no duty owed by a licensed mental health professional to take reasonable precautions to warn or in any other way protect...
Last modified: September 11, 2015