How to Obtain an Emergency Detention Order

IC 12-26-5-148-72 hour detention; written application; contents

     Sec. 1. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, an individual may be detained in a facility for not more than seventy-two (72) hours under this chapter, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, if a written application for detention is filed with a court of competent jurisdiction in accordance with this section.

     (b) An individual may be detained in a facility for not more than forty-eight (48) hours from the time of admission, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, unless the facility files an application for detention, on a form prepared by the office of judicial administration, with a court of competent jurisdiction within the forty-eight (48) hour period. If the facility timely files an application for detention, the individual may be detained for not more than seventy-two (72) hours from the time of admission, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, unless the court approves the application for detention. If the court approves the application for detention, the individual may be held for not more than fourteen (14) days, from the time of admission, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, pending a final hearing under section 11 of this chapter. If a patient is admitted to a facility after midnight and before 8:00 a.m., the time periods described in this subsection begin to run at 8:00 a.m.

     (c) An application for detention under subsection (b) must contain an attestation signed by a physician that the individual has been examined by a physician, an advanced practice registered nurse, or a physician assistant, and that based on this examination, or based on other information provided to the physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant, the applicant believes that there is probable cause to believe that:

(1) the individual is mentally ill and either dangerous or gravely disabled; and

(2) the individual requires continuing involuntary detention to receive care and treatment.

     (d) A facility may not be required to first seek transfer of the individual to a psychiatric hospital before commencing an application for detention.

     (e) A facility may commence an application for detention even if an individual was not apprehended and transported to a facility under section 0.5 of this chapter.

[Pre-1992 Revision Citation: 16-14-9.1-7(a) part.]

As added by P.L.2-1992, SEC.20. Amended by P.L.1-1993, SEC.153; P.L.40-1994, SEC.56; P.L.205-2023, SEC.10.