Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1894-02-16
RETURN OF PHTIENTs.
The Correspondence Between
Judge Trette1 and Attorney
General Childs Re1a-
tive to the mat.

Last week Judge of Probate Tret.
tel received q notice from the au.
thorities of the hospital for the,insane
at Fergus Falls, to send for the
patients committed from Morrison
county, or they would be- released
AS they were not legally committed
the expense OF returning them to
their homes would not be paid by
the state and the county is not
authorized to pay it. He therefore
wrote to Attorney General Childs as
follows:
LITTLE FALLS, Mimi, Feb. 10, 1894
H. w. Childs, Esq, Atty General,
State of Minnesota, st. Paul, MINI.
Dear Sir: Have just received
notice from Fergus Falls state
hospital requesting me to send for
all patients in said hospital belong
ing to our county, committed under
the law of 1893, wherefore the follow
ing questions arise:
FIRsT-Have the judges OF pro-
bate of the several counties author
ity to send for these patients at the
expense Of their respective counties Z?
SECOND-If so, shall such expense
be allowed and paid under sections
277 and 278, Probate code 1889, or
shall the bills for such expenses land
fees) be presented to the board of
county commissioners of the several
counties for allowance?
TH1RD-If patients shall be sent for
by the Judges of probate OF the sew
eral counties, should a patient, if an
insane female, be accompanied on
the way from the hospital by an
other person and is such person en-
titled to fees and expenses under
said section 277, Probate code 1889?
FOURTH-Must the person accom-
panying an insane female, either
from or to the hospital for insane, be
a woman or the husband of such
female patient, if married, or may
the respective Judges of probate APP
point any suitable person as such
attendant to an insane female
patient either from or to the hos
pital?
FIFTH-What shall the judges of
probate do with patients returned
when brought back? Return them
to their former homes or hold them
for another examination to be held
forthwith under the petition under
which they were examined in con-
formity with the law OF 1893?
I await an early reply, to oblige
Yours very truly,
DoNAT TRErTEL,
Judge of Probate.
TO the above letter Judge Trettel
received the following reply yester-
day.
ST. PAUL, Mimi Feb. Is, 1894.
Hon. Donat Trettel, Judge of Pro-
bate, Little Falls, MINI.
Dear Sir.-YOu are advised in re-
ply to your communication OF the
10th inst, that there is no authority
conferred upon Judge of probate by
section III and 27S of the Probate
code, whereby he may allow fees for
recovering the return of patients
from hospitals for the insane. af-
fected by the recent decision of our
Supreme Court. The effect of that
decision is to place such persons in
the status in which they were found
at the time proceedings were in
stituted for their commitment.
Strictly speaking it is a question to
be determined by the friends and
relatives of such persons. In case of
poor persons, liable to be charges
upon the counties in which the re-
spective hospitals are situated, they
may no doubt be sent back to the
county from which committed at
the ultimate expense of the commit
ting counties. This presents ques-
ton of policy for given county,
and arrangements should be made
with friends or relatives or other
wise, to procure the return of pa
tients. If there are several patients
from a given county af-
fected by the said decision, l see no
reason why they may not be placed
in charge OF one or more suitable
persons, who could attend them
upon their return with a correspond
ing saving of expense to the county
or relatives as the case may be.
But as above suggested. the ques-
ton is one Of expediency and should
have prompt action. What should
be done in "A given case must depend
upon existing facts and circum-
stances. 1t may appear that no re-
is necessary in certain
instances, or the condition of the
patient may be such as to require
attention.
Local authorities should therefore
govern themselves accordingly.
The appropriate course to be pur-
sued will be suggested by facts pc
culiar to each case presented, but
under no view of the situation is the
county required to con
vey a patient to his home who has
been returned to such county.
Whenever patient is to be re-
committed the proceeding will of
course be conducted de novo under
the law of 1889.
lam, Yours very truly,
H. w. CHILDs,