2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 27 - BEHAVIORAL HEALTH (§§ 27-1-101 — 27-94-107) › MENTAL HEALTH AND MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS (§§ 27-65-101 — 27-71-105) › Article 65 - CARE AND TREATMENT OF PERSONS WITH MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS (§§ 27-65-101 — 27-65-131) › Section 27-65-109 - Certification for short-term treatment - procedure

(1)
A person may be certified for not more than three months for short-term treatment under the following conditions:
(a)
The professional staff of the facility detaining the person on an emergency mental health hold has evaluated the person and has found the person has a mental health disorder and, as a result of the mental health disorder, is a danger to the person's self or others or is gravely disabled;
(b)
The person has been advised of the availability of, but has not accepted, voluntary treatment; but, if reasonable grounds exist to believe that the person will not remain in a voluntary treatment program, the person's acceptance of voluntary treatment does not preclude certification;
(c)
The facility or community provider that will provide short-term treatment has been designated by the commissioner to provide such treatment; and
(d)
The person, the person's legal guardian, and the person's lay person, if applicable, have been advised of the person's right to an attorney and to contest the certification for short-term treatment.
(2)
The notice of certification must be signed by a professional person who participated in the evaluation. The notice of certification must:
(a)
State facts sufficient to establish reasonable grounds to believe that the respondent has a mental health disorder and, as a result of the mental health disorder, is a danger to the respondent's self or others or is gravely disabled;
(b)
Be filed with the court within forty-eight hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and court holidays, after the date of certification;
(c)
Be filed with the court in the county in which the respondent resided or was physically present immediately prior to being taken into custody; and
(d)
Provide recommendations if the certification should take place on an inpatient or outpatient basis.
(3)
Within twenty-four hours after certification, copies of the certification must be personally delivered to the respondent, the BHA, and a copy must be kept by the evaluating facility as part of the respondent's record, if applicable. The facility or court shall ask the respondent to designate a lay person whom the respondent wishes to be informed regarding certification. If the respondent is incapable of making such a designation at the time the certification is delivered, the respondent must be asked to designate a lay person as soon as the respondent is capable. In addition to the copy of the certification, the respondent must be given a written notice that a hearing upon the respondent's certification for short-term treatment may be had before the court or a jury upon written request directed to the court pursuant to subsection (6) of this section.
(4)
Upon certification of the respondent, the facility designated for short-term treatment has custody of the respondent.
(5)
[Formerly 27-65-107 (5)]
Whenever a certification is filed with the court by A professional person, the court shall immediately appoint an attorney to represent the respondent. The respondent has the right to an attorney for all proceedings conducted pursuant to this section, including any appeals. The attorney representing the respondent must be provided with a copy of the certification immediately upon the attorney's appointment. The respondent may only waive counsel when the respondent makes a knowing and intelligent waiver in front of the court.
(6)
The respondent or the respondent's attorney may at any time file a written request that the certification for short-term treatment or the treatment be reviewed by the court or that the treatment be on an outpatient basis. If review is requested, the court shall hear the matter within ten days after the request, and the court shall give notice to the respondent and the respondent's attorney and the certifying and treating professional person of the time and place of the hearing. The hearing must be held in accordance with section
27-65-113
. At the conclusion of the hearing, the court may enter or confirm the certification for short-term treatment, discharge the respondent, or enter any other appropriate order.
(7)
Records and papers in proceedings pursuant to this section must be maintained separately by the clerks of the several courts. Upon the release of any respondent in accordance with section
27-65-112
, the facility shall notify the clerk of the court within five days after the release, and the clerk shall immediately seal the record in the case and omit the name of the respondent from the index of cases in the court until and unless the respondent becomes subject to an order of certification for long-term care and treatment pursuant to section
27-65-110
or until and unless the court orders the records opened for good cause shown. In the event a petition is filed pursuant to section
27-65-110
, the certification record may be opened and become a part of the record in the long-term care and treatment case and the name of the respondent indexed.
(8)
Whenever it appears to the court, by reason of a report by the treating professional person or the BHA or any other report satisfactory to the court, that a respondent detained for evaluation and treatment or certified for short-term treatment should be transferred to another facility for treatment and the safety of the respondent or the public requires that the respondent be transported by a secure transportation provider or a law enforcement agency, the court may issue an order directing the law enforcement agency where the respondent resides or secure transportation provider to deliver the respondent to the designated facility.
(9)
A respondent certified for short-term treatment may be discharged upon the signature of the treating medical professional and the medical director of the facility. A respondent certified for short-term treatment on an outpatient basis may be discharged upon the signature of the approved professional person overseeing the respondent's treatment, and the professional person shall notify the BHA prior to the discharge. A facility or program shall make the respondent's discharge instructions available to the respondent, the respondent's attorney, and the respondent's legal guardian, if applicable, within seven days after discharge, if requested. a facility or program that is transferring a respondent to a different treatment facility or to an outpatient provider shall provide all treatment records to the facility or provider accepting the respondent at least twenty-four hours prior to the transfer.
(10)
If the professional person in charge of the evaluation and treatment believes that a period longer than three months is necessary to treat the respondent, the professional person shall file with the court an extended certification at least thirty days prior to the expiration date of the original certification. An extended certification for treatment must not be for a period of more than three months. The respondent is entitled to a hearing on the extended certification under the same conditions as an original certification. The attorney initially representing the respondent shall continue to represent the respondent, unless the court appoints another attorney.
Amended by 2022 Ch. 451, § 3, eff. 7/1/2024.
Amended by 2022 Ch. 451, § 1, eff. 8/10/2022.
Amended by 2022 Ch. 222, § 117, eff. 7/1/2022.
Amended by 2017 Ch. 263, § 238, eff. 5/25/2017.
L. 2010: Entire article added with relocations, (SB 10 -175), ch. 188, p. 688, § 2, effective April 29. L. 2017: IP(1), (1)(a), (4), and (5) amended, (SB 17-242), ch. 263, p. 1344, § 238, effective May 25.
This section is similar to former § 27-10-109 as it existed prior to 2010.
2022 Ch. 451, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).
For the legislative declaration in SB 17-242, see section 1 of chapter 263, Session Laws of Colorado 2017.