2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY-FOUR - Health and Sanitation (§§ 1 — 15010) › PART VIII - Mental Health (§§ 4001-6151 — 6184) › Chapter 201A - Mental Health Code of 2000 (§§ 6152 — 6166g) › Subchapter IV - Mental Health Care System for Adults (§§ 6155 — 6155v) › § 6155l - Twenty-four hour (24) temporary detention

If as a result of a personal observation, a security agent or any other citizen has reason to believe that a person of eighteen (18) years of age or more requires immediate treatment in order to protect him/her from physical damage to the self or others, or to property, he/she may present to the Court of First Instance with venue, a sworn petition for a twenty-four hour (24) temporary detention so that an inter- or multidisciplinary team may conduct an evaluation of the adult. Said petition may be filed in the court closest to the residence of the person who is understood to need mental health services or in the court closest to the place where that person is located.
The court may grant said petition, provided the sworn petition contains and supports the following:
(a) Detailed reasons that are grounds to state that the adult should be admitted involuntarily, including a description of the acts or significant dangers that support said statement, as well as the place and date they occurred, with names, exact address, telephone number and personal data of the persons who witnessed the acts, if any;
(b) the name and address of the spouse, legal guardian or closest family member; and if there are none of these, the name or address of any other person, entity or institution with interest in the adult subject to evaluation for involuntary admission. If the petitioner is unable to supply the corresponding names and addresses, he/she shall state the steps that were taken to obtain this information and the specific measures followed, even if they were unsuccessful, and
(c) the relationship between the petitioner and the adult subject to evaluation for involuntary admission, as well as a statement by the petitioner as to having or not any type of interest with said adult, as the case may be, but not limited to any economic or litigious interest, be it civil or criminal.
Once the abovementioned requisites have been presented and the merits of the petition evaluated, the court may issue an order for temporary detention, for a term of not more than twenty-four (24) hours.
Once the adult arrives at the providing institution, he/she shall be kept in observation. He/She shall be evaluated and given the pertinent treatment, according to the severity of the symptoms and signs at the time, for a period not to exceed than twenty-four (24) hours. This order expires within three (3) calendar days after its issuance date.
If based on the results of the evaluation and observation made, the psychiatrist, in consultation with the inter or multidisciplinary team, determines that the adult does not meet the hospitalization criteria, he/she shall be released immediately or be referred to another level of care, if necessary. The court shall be notified of said determination and of the pertinent recommendations within a term not more than seventy-two (72) hours.
If, on the contrary, the psychiatrist, in consultation with the inter- or multidisciplinary team, determines that hospitalization is the indicated level of care, he/she shall render a certification of said determination so that the closest family member, legal guardian, or a representative of the institution, as may apply, may try to request an involuntary admission.
History —Oct. 2, 2000, No. 408, § 4.13, eff. 90 days after Oct. 2, 2000.