THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

949

THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING to health.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  Section 334-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new definition to be appropriately inserted and to read as follows:

     ""Forensic facility" means a psychiatric hospital facility that assesses and treats forensically committed persons."

     SECTION 2.  Section 334-2.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

     "(b)  The department may operate or contract for a secure psychiatric rehabilitation program for individuals who require intensive therapeutic treatment and rehabilitation in a secure setting.  The services authorized by this section shall be for persons:

     (1)  Involuntarily hospitalized under this chapter for whom the services cannot be reimbursed, covered, or provided by an insurer, plan, or other person;

     (2)  Committed to the custody of the director under chapter 704; and

     (3)  Appropriately hospitalized under chapter 704 or 706.

     The director shall be responsible for the appropriate placement of all persons placed in forensic facilities or services contracted for or operated by the director under paragraphs (1) through (3).

     Any [such] person placed in a forensic facility or services contracted for or operated by the director who leaves or remains away from the forensic facility or services, without permission, may be apprehended and returned to the forensic facility or services by any employee of the department or by any law enforcement officer without any warrant or further proceeding."

     SECTION 3.  Section 334-2.7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

     "(c)  For the purposes of this section[:

     "Forensic facility" means a facility that assesses and treats forensically committed persons.

     "Useful], "useful life costs" means an economic evaluation that compares alternate building and operating methods and provides information on the design, construction methods, and materials to be used with respect to efficiency in building maintenance and facility operation."

     SECTION 4.  Section 334-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§334-4  Personnel for mental health program.  The director shall appoint professional and nonprofessional staff as the director deems necessary to carry out the state mental health program and for which appropriations are available.  Positions for psychiatrists are exempted from chapter 76.  The director may employ psychiatrists as needed by the department on a contractual basis, subject to the approval of the governor.  The director may appoint an administrator, three associate administrators, a director of psychosocial rehabilitation, a chief of the department of nursing, a risk manager, a patients' rights advisor, and a facilities plant engineer for the state hospital or a secure psychiatric rehabilitation forensic facility established pursuant to this chapter and these positions shall be exempt from chapter 76."

     SECTION 5.  Section 334-74, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§334-74  Transfer of residents of correctional facilities.  If any resident of a state correctional facility is in need of acute psychiatric treatment for mental illness, the director of public safety or the officer in charge of the correctional facility may file with the director an application for the transfer of the resident to a forensic facility operated by the department of health or at which the director of health contracts for services, together with the certificate of a psychiatrist or psychologist employed by the department showing the need for [such] treatment, and, upon approval of the application by the director, the official having custody of the resident shall transfer the resident to the forensic facility operated by the department or at which the director contracts for care and treatment.  The official effecting the transfer of the resident shall keep the director informed of the maximum period of commitment of the resident to the director of public safety, and, if the continued care of the resident beyond the expiration of the period is deemed necessary, the director shall institute the procedures required to detain the resident as a patient notwithstanding the resident's release from the state correctional facility; provided that a judicial hearing pursuant to sections 334-60.2 to 334-60.7 be held by the same circuit court that sentenced the resident.  In the event that discharge from the forensic facility operated by the department or at which the director contracts for services occurs before the expiration of the maximum period of commitment or confinement, the resident shall be returned to the appropriate state correctional facility.

     As used in this section, "resident" means any person serving a sentence in a state correctional facility or any child or minor detained in a state correctional facility."

     SECTION 6.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 7.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

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Report Title:

Hawaii State Hospital; Mental Health Services; Forensic Facility; Psychiatric Services

 

Description:

Requires that any secure psychiatric rehabilitation program operated or contracted for by the Department of Health must be a forensic facility.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.