MCA Chapter 31

in effect

Miss. Code Ann. § 41-31-1 Definitions.

As used in this chapter, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed to them, unless the context requires a different meaning: “Alcoholic” means any person who chronically and habitually uses alcoholic beverages to the extent that he has lost the power of self-control with respect to the use of such beverages, or any person who, while chronically under the influence of alcoholic beverages, endangers public morals, health, safety or welfare. “Alcoholic beverage” means alcoholic spirits, liquors, wines, beer, and every liquid or fluid, patented or not, containing alcoholic spirits, wine or beer, which is capable of being consumed by human beings and produces or results in intoxication in any form or degree. “Alcoholism” means any condition of abnormal behavior or illness resulting directly or indirectly from the chronic and habitual use of alcoholic beverages. “Drug addict” means any person who chronically and habitually uses any form of habit-forming drugs, such as opioids, opiates and the derivatives thereof, barbiturates, and every tablet, powder, substance, liquid or fluid, patented or not, containing habit-forming drugs if same is capable of being used by human beings and produces drug addiction in any form or degree. “Drug addiction” means any condition of abnormal behavior or illness resulting directly or indirectly from the chronic and habitual use of habit-forming drugs. “Hospital” or “institution” means either the Mississippi State Hospital, at Whitfield, Mississippi, or the East Mississippi State Hospital, at Meridian, Mississippi, and shall include the grounds thereof and the facilities used for the treatment of alcoholics and the drug addicts. “Medical director” means the physician in charge of: (i) Mississippi State Hospital, or (ii) East Mississippi State Hospital, as the case may be.

Miss. Code Ann. § 41-31-3 Development of Uniform Alcohol and Drug Commitment Affidavit to initiate commitment proceedings; development of Uniform Alcohol and Drug Commitment Guide outlining steps in commitment process.

The Department of Mental Health must develop a Uniform Alcohol and Drug Commitment Affidavit to be utilized in all counties to initiate commitment proceedings under Title 41, Chapters 30, 31 and 32, Mississippi Code of 1972. The Uniform Alcohol and Drug Commitment Affidavit must be provided by the clerk of the chancery court to any party or affiant seeking a civil commitment under this chapter and also must be made available to the public on the website of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health. The Department of Mental Health, in consultation with the Mississippi Chancery Clerks Association, the Mississippi Conference of Chancery Court Judges and the Mississippi Association of Community Mental Health Centers, must develop a written guide no later than January 1, 2020, setting out the steps in the commitment process. The guide shall be designated as the “Uniform Alcohol and Drug Commitment Guide” and shall include, but not be limited to, the following: Steps in the alcohol and drug commitment process from affidavit to commitment, written in easily understandable layman’s terms; A schedule of fees and assessments that will be charged to commence a commitment proceeding under this chapter; Eligibility requirements and instructions for filing a pauper’s affidavit; and A statement on the front cover of the guide advising that persons who pursue an alcohol and drug commitment under this chapter are not required to retain an attorney for any portion of the commitment process. As soon as available but no later than January 1, 2020, the Uniform Alcohol and Drug Commitment Guide must be provided by the clerk of the chancery court to any party or affiant seeking a civil commitment under this chapter, and also must be made available to the public on the website of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health. Proceedings for detention, care and treatment of any person alleged to be an alcoholic or drug addict may be initiated or instituted by such person’s husband, wife, child, mother, father, next of kin, or by any friend or relative thereof, or by the county health officer. Such proceedings shall be instituted by the filing of the Uniform Alcohol and Drug Commitment Affidavit in the chancery court of the county of such person’s residence or of the county in which he may be found. It shall be necessary that the affidavit allege that such person is an alcoholic or drug addict, as the case may be, is a resident citizen of this state, and because of his alcoholism or drug addiction is incapable of or unfit to look after and conduct his affairs, or is dangerous to himself or others, or has lost the power of self-control because of periodic, constant or frequent use of alcoholic beverages or habit-forming drugs, and that he is in need of care and treatment, and that his detention, care and treatment at an institution will improve his health. A chancery clerk may not require an affiant to retain an attorney for the filing of an affidavit under this section. All proceedings authorized by this chapter may be had and conducted either in termtime or in vacation of said court.

Miss. Code Ann. § 41-31-5 Proceedings for inpatient commitment or outpatient treatment; presence of attorney.

Whenever an affidavit is filed, the chancellor of said court shall, by order, fix a time upon a day certain for the hearing thereof, either in termtime or in vacation, which hearing shall be fixed not less than five (5) days nor more than twenty (20) days from the filing of the affidavit. The person alleged to be an alcoholic or drug addict shall be served with a citation to appear at said hearing not less than three (3) days prior to the day fixed for said hearing, and there shall be served with such citation a true and correct copy of the affidavit. The clerk must ascertain whether the respondent is represented by an attorney, and if it is determined that the respondent does not have an attorney, the clerk immediately must notify the chancellor of that fact. If the chancellor determines that the respondent for any reason does not have the services of an attorney, the chancellor shall appoint an attorney for the respondent before a hearing on the affidavit. At the time fixed, the chancellor shall hear evidence on the affidavit, with or without the presence of the alleged alcoholic or drug addict, and all persons interested shall have the right to appear and present evidence touching upon the truth and correctness of the allegations of the affidavit. The said chancellor, in his discretion, may require that the alleged alcoholic or drug addict be examined by the county health officer or by such other competent physician or physicians as the chancellor may select, and may consider the results of such examination in reaching a decision in said matter. If the alleged alcoholic or drug addict shall admit the truth and correctness of the allegations of the affidavit, or if the chancellor should find from the evidence that such person is an alcoholic or drug addict, and is in need of detention, care and treatment in an institution, and that the other material allegations of said petition are true, then he shall enter an order so finding, and shall order that such person be remanded and committed to and confined in the proper state institution under this chapter or a private treatment facility under the provisions of Title 41, Chapter 32, Mississippi Code of 1972, or, in the case of an alcoholic to an approved public or private treatment facility pursuant to the provisions of Title 41, Chapter 30, Mississippi Code of 1972, for care and treatment for a period of not less than thirty (30) days nor more than ninety (90) days as the necessity of the case may, in his discretion, require. However, when such person shall be so committed, the medical director of the said institution shall be vested with full discretion as to the treatment and discharge of such person, and may discharge and release such person at any time when the condition of such person shall so justify. If the chancellor determines under this section that the alleged alcoholic or drug addict is in need of care and treatment but also affirmatively finds that the alleged alcoholic or drug addict would benefit from the less restrictive option of an outpatient treatment program, the chancellor, in his discretion and upon agreement of both the affiant and the person in need of treatment, may order the alleged alcoholic or drug addict into an outpatient treatment program. If the order directs outpatient treatment, the outpatient treatment provider may prescribe or administer to the respondent treatment consistent with accepted alcohol and drug abuse treatment standards. If the respondent fails or clearly refuses to comply with outpatient treatment, the director of the treatment program, his designee or an interested person must make all reasonable efforts to solicit the respondent’s compliance. These efforts must be documented and, if the respondent fails or clearly refuses to comply with outpatient treatment after the efforts are made, the efforts must be documented with the court by affidavit. Upon the filing of the affidavit, the sheriff of the proper county may take the respondent into custody. The chancellor thereafter may order the respondent to inpatient treatment as soon as a treatment facility is available. The respondent may request a hearing within ten (10) days of commitment to inpatient treatment by filing a written request with the chancery clerk of the committing court, or the respondent may request such a hearing in writing to any member of the professional staff of the treatment facility, which must be forwarded to the director and promptly filed with the chancery clerk of the committing court. The respondent must be advised of the right to request such a hearing and of the right to consult a lawyer.

Miss. Code Ann. § 41-31-7 Appeals.

Any person who shall be ordered to be committed to an institution as provided in this chapter, and who shall feel aggrieved at such decision, may appeal therefrom to the supreme court of this state by giving notice thereof in the manner provided by law and by furnishing a good and sufficient bond in an amount to be fixed by the chancellor, and to be approved by the clerk of said court, which said bond shall be conditioned to pay all costs of the proceedings and the appeal, and that said person will appear to abide the decision of the court on such appeal. On such appeal, the record shall be made and prepared as in other cases, and all of the provisions of the general law shall apply thereto except that it shall be necessary that the proper notice be given and the requisite bond furnished within five (5) days from the date of the final determination of the chancellor.

Miss. Code Ann. § 41-31-9 Enforcement of orders.

The chancellor shall have the power to order the issuance of such writs and other process as may be necessary to enforce his orders in such matters, including writs directed to the sheriff of any proper county to take such person into custody and to deliver him to the director of the proper institution. Such writs and other process shall be issued and executed accordingly.

Miss. Code Ann. § 41-31-11 Transferring of patients; written notification of transfer to committing court.

The medical director of the Mississippi State Hospital or the East Mississippi State Hospital may, subject to the regulations of the board of trustees of mental institutions, transfer alcoholics or drug addicts from one institution used for the commitment of alcoholics and drug addicts to another institution, or from one department in any institution to another as is deemed necessary for their care and treatment. The medical director must provide the committing court with written notification of the transfer, including the name of the facility or program to which the alcoholic or addict is transferred.

Miss. Code Ann. § 41-31-13 Probation and discharge.

Any person committed to the custody of the Mississippi State Hospital or the East Mississippi Hospital may, notwithstanding the terms of any order of commitment, be permitted by the medical director or his authorized agent, to go at large on probation and without custody or restraint for such time and under such conditions as such medical director shall judge best. All persons committed to the custody of the Mississippi State Hospital or the East Mississippi State Hospital may be discharged by the director pursuant to its regulations, notwithstanding the terms of any order of commitment.

Miss. Code Ann. § 41-31-15 Costs of commitment and support.

The provisions of the law with respect to the costs of commitment and the cost of support, including the prohibition in Section 41-21-65 regarding the charging of extra fees and expenses to persons initiating commitment proceedings, methods of determination of persons liable therefor, and methods of determination of financial ability, and all provisions of law enabling the state to secure reimbursement of any such items of cost, applicable to the commitment to and support of the mentally ill persons in state hospitals, shall apply with equal force in respect to each item of expense incurred by the state in connection with the commitment, care, custody, treatment, and rehabilitation of any person committed to the state hospitals and maintained in any institution or hospital operated by the State of Mississippi under the provisions of this chapter.

Miss. Code Ann. § 41-31-17 Rights as citizens; confidentiality of records.

No person who is committed to the Mississippi State Hospital or the East Mississippi State Hospital for treatment under the provisions of this chapter shall forfeit or be abridged thereby of any of his or her rights as a citizen of the United States or of the State of Mississippi. The records pertaining to any person committed to the Mississippi State Hospital or the East Mississippi State Hospital for treatment, care, guidance and rehabilitation shall be confidential, and the contents thereof shall not be divulged except on an order of a court of competent jurisdiction or a signed waiver by the person committed. However, information in regard to cancer about any such patients who might have cancer shall be provided to the state board of health as the official tumor registry agency, which information shall be used to provide statistical reports only. The agency shall not divulge any patient’s name in regard to any case history nor statistical compilation.

Miss. Code Ann. § 41-31-18 Continuing jurisdiction of court over person committed to inpatient or outpatient treatment for one year after treatment completed; recommitment.

The court shall have continuing jurisdiction over a person committed to an inpatient or outpatient treatment program under this chapter for one (1) year after completion of the treatment program. During that time and upon affidavit in the same cause of action, the court may conduct a hearing consistent with this chapter or Title 41, Chapter 21, Mississippi Code of 1972, to determine whether the person needs to be recommitted for further alcohol and drug treatment or to determine whether the person suffers from a mental or nervous condition or affliction requiring commitment for mental health treatment. Upon a finding by the court that the person is in need of further treatment, the court may commit the person to an appropriate treatment facility. The person subject to commitment must be afforded the due process entitled to him or her under Title 41, Chapters 21 and 31, Mississippi Code of 1972. This section may not be construed so as to conflict with the provisions of Section 41-21-87.

Miss. Code Ann. § 41-31-19 Commitment proceedings for persons with mental illness committed under this chapter.

The medical director of the hospital may bring commitment proceedings under the provisions of the proper statute in the county wherein the person involved is restrained for commitment to such institution as shall be proper, if said person is found to be suffering from a mental or nervous condition or affliction requiring his adjudication and commitment under said statute.

Miss. Code Ann. § 41-31-21 Refusal of admittance to certain persons.

If in the opinion of the medical director of the Mississippi State Hospital or the East Mississippi State Hospital, any person willfully and consistently fails to be rehabilitated after three commitments to any state institution, said medical director may refuse further admission to such person notwithstanding the order of any court, unless such person on the fourth or any succeeding commitment be committed by an order of the chancery court as provided by this chapter, and before entering said institution on a fourth or any succeeding commitment, such person, or someone for such person committed, shall pay to said institution the sum of Fifty Dollars ($50.00) per month in advance for the care, custody, support and maintenance of such person in said institution. Such person, or someone for such person, failing or refusing to make the payment herein provided, before admission on a fourth or succeeding commitment, or any time during said commitment, shall be cause for the medical director of such institution to refuse admission of such person committed under this chapter, or to dismiss such person committed under this chapter after commitment. The monthly payment herein provided shall be a condition precedent to admission of a person on a fourth or subsequent commitment, and shall be made each month thereafter in advance on or before the last day of the preceding month for which payment is due. There shall be no refunds of the monthly payment herein provided on account of such person committed hereunder having failed to remain a full month at such institution.

Miss. Code Ann. § 41-31-23 Providing alcoholic beverages to persons in custody of institution.

Any person who shall give, sell, deliver, or otherwise provide any alcoholic beverages or drug, regardless of the quantity thereof, to any person who is confined in an institution or hospital for care and treatment under this chapter for alcoholism or drug addiction shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), nor more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment in the discretion of the court. However, the staff of such institution or hospital may administer alcohol or drugs in the course of treatment in strict accordance with the prescriptions of a physician of such institution.