Opinion ID: 6345005
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Petition For 30-Day Commitment

Text: On September 8 — after Carl arrived and was evaluated at Alaska Psychiatric Institute (API) — a petition for 30-day commitment was filed.7 The petition alleged that Carl had a diagnosis of schizophrenia, “experience[d] audiovisual hallucinations and delusions about being possessed,” and “[a]t times” had “disorganized” speech “with frequent derailment and incoherence.” The petition also alleged that Carl was: (1) likely to cause serious harm to himself because “[h]e has impaired judgment and may put himself in danger”; (2) likely to cause serious harm to others because he “is paranoid of others being after him” and “made a whip from a towel for his defense”; and (3) gravely disabled, and that if not treated, Carl “will suffer mental distress, his level of 5 (...continued) to cause serious[, imminent] harm to self or others” may “cause the person to be taken into custody and delivered to the nearest crisis stabilization center . . . or the nearest evaluation facility.” AS 47.30.705(a). The mental health professional or peace officer must then petition for the person’s emergency evaluation. Id. 6 AS 47.30.710(b) authorizes mental health professionals who perform an emergency evaluation at an evaluation facility or crisis stabilization center to “hospitalize the respondent, or arrange for hospitalization, on an emergency basis,” if the mental health professionals “ha[ve] reason to believe that the respondent is (1) mentally ill and that condition causes the respondent to be gravely disabled or to present a likelihood of serious harm to self or others, and (2) is in need of care or treatment.” 7 AS 47.30.730. -3- 7596 function will continue to deteriorate, and he may not be capable of surviving safely in freedom due to self[-]injurious tendencies.” A court may grant a petition to civilly commit an individual only if it finds by clear and convincing evidence that the individual “is mentally ill and as a result is likely to cause harm to [self] or others or is gravely disabled.”8 Alaska Statute 47.30.915(9) defines “gravely disabled” as “a condition in which a person as a result of mental illness” either: (A) is in danger of physical harm arising from such complete neglect of basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, or personal safety as to render serious accident, illness, or death highly probable if care by another is not taken; or (B) will, if not treated, suffer or continue to suffer severe and abnormal mental, emotional, or physical distress, and this distress is associated with significant impairment of judgment, reason, or behavior causing a substantial deterioration of the person’s previous ability to function independently. The Alaska Court System has created a form that may be used to petition for an individual’s commitment. The form contains a checkbox next to each ground for commitment that may be alleged: harm to self, harm to others, or gravely disabled. Beside the checkbox for gravely disabled, the form contains an additional checkbox next to each definition of gravely disabled: (9)(A) (referred to in this decision as “extreme neglect”) and (9)(B) (referred to here as “distress and deterioration”). In Carl’s case, the boxes for gravely disabled and distress and deterioration were checked; the box for extreme neglect was not. The petition in Carl’s case appears to have been filed by two 8 In re Joan K., 273 P.3d 594, 598 (Alaska 2012) (alteration in original) (quoting AS 47.30.735(c)). -4- 7596 mental health professionals whose names are typed at the bottom of the form, but the petition was signed by only one of them.