2023 Vermont Statutes › Title 18 - Health › Chapter 94 - Substance Use Disorders › § 4810. Treatment and services

§ 4810. Treatment and services
(a) When a law enforcement officer encounters a person who, in the judgment of the officer, is intoxicated as defined in section 4802 of this title, the officer may assist the person, if he or she consents, to his or her home, to an approved substance abuse treatment program, or to some other mutually agreeable location.
(b) When a law enforcement officer encounters a person who, in the judgment of the officer, is incapacitated as defined in section 4802 of this title, the person shall be taken into protective custody by the officer. The officer shall transport the incapacitated person directly to an approved substance abuse treatment program with detoxification capabilities or to the emergency room of a licensed general hospital for treatment, except that if a substance abuse crisis team or a designated substance abuse counselor exists in the vicinity and is available, the person may be released to the team or counselor at any location mutually agreeable between the officer and the team or counselor. The period of protective custody shall end when the person is released to a substance abuse crisis team, a designated substance abuse counselor, a clinical staff person of an approved substance abuse treatment program with detoxification capabilities, or a professional medical staff person at a licensed general hospital emergency room. The person may be released to his or her own devices if, at any time, the officer judges him or her to be no longer incapacitated. Protective custody shall in no event exceed 24 hours.
(c) If an incapacitated person is taken to an approved substance abuse treatment program with detoxification capabilities and the program is at capacity, the person shall be taken to the nearest licensed general hospital emergency room for treatment.
(d) A person judged by a law enforcement officer to be incapacitated and who has not been charged with a crime may be lodged in protective custody in a secure facility not operated by the Department of Corrections for up to 24 hours or until judged by the person in charge of the facility to be no longer incapacitated, if and only if:
(1) the person refuses to be transported to an appropriate facility for treatment or, if once there, refuses treatment or leaves the facility before he or she is considered by the responsible staff of that facility to be no longer incapacitated; or
(2) no approved substance abuse treatment program with detoxification capabilities and no staff physician or other medical professional at the nearest licensed general hospital can be found who will accept the person for treatment.
(e) No person shall be lodged in a secure facility under subsection (d) of this section without first being evaluated and found to be indeed incapacitated by a substance abuse crisis team, a designated substance abuse counselor, a clinical staff person of an approved substance abuse treatment program with detoxification capabilities, or a professional medical staff person at a licensed general hospital emergency room.
(f) A secure facility not operated by the Department of Corrections shall not refuse to admit an incapacitated person in protective custody whose admission is requested by a law enforcement officer, in compliance with the conditions of this section.
(g) Notwithstanding subsection (d) of this section, a person under 18 years of age who is judged by a law enforcement officer to be incapacitated and who has not been charged with a crime shall not be held at a lockup or community correctional center. If needed treatment is not readily available, the person shall be released to his or her parent or guardian. If the person has no parent or guardian in the area, arrangements shall be made to house him or her according to the provisions of 33 V.S.A. chapter 53. The official in charge of an adult jail or lockup shall notify the Director of the Office of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Programs of any person under 18 years of age brought to an adult jail or lockup pursuant to this chapter.
(h) If an incapacitated person in protective custody is lodged in a secure facility, his or her family or next of kin shall be notified as promptly as possible. If the person is an adult and requests that there be no notification, his or her request shall be respected.
(i) A taking into protective custody under this section is not an arrest.
(j) Law enforcement officers, persons responsible for supervision in a secure facility, members of a substance abuse crisis team, and designated substance abuse counselors who act under the authority of this section are acting in the course of their official duty and are not criminally or civilly liable therefor, unless for gross negligence or willful or wanton injury. (Added 2019, No. 6, § 98, amended 2019, No. 6, § 99, eff. July 1, 2025.)