Opinion ID: 2631141
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Procedural requirements under the LPS Act

Text: As relevant here, we recently discussed the series of temporary detentions and the appointment of conservatorships available under the LPS Act. ( Conservatorship of Ben C. (2007) 40 Cal.4th 529, 541-542, 53 Cal.Rptr.3d 856, 150 P.3d 738 (Ben C.).) The LPS Act `limits involuntary commitment to successive periods of increasingly longer duration, beginning with a 72-hour detention for evaluation and treatment ( [Welf. & Int.Code,] § 5150), which may be extended by certification for 14 days of intensive treatment (§ 5250); that initial period may be extended for an additional 14 days if the person detained is suicidal. (§ 5260.) ... [T]he 14-day certification may be extended for an additional 30-day period for further intensive treatment. § 5270.15.) Persons found to be imminently dangerous may be involuntarily committed for up to 180 days beyond the 14-day period. (§ 5300.) After the initial 72-hour detention, the 14-day and 30-day commitments each require a certification hearing before an appointed hearing officer to determine probable cause for confinement unless the detainee has filed a petition for the writ of habeas corpus. (§§ 5256, 5256.1, 5262, 5270.15, 5275, 5276.) A 180-day commitment requires a superior court order. (§ 5301.)' (Id. at p. 541, 53 Cal. Rptr.3d 856, 150 P.3d 738, quoting Conservatorship of Susan T. (1994) 8 Cal.4th 1005, 1009, 36 Cal.Rptr.2d 40, 884 P.2d 988.) The LPS Act's carefully calibrated series of temporary detentions for evaluation and treatment ( Ben C, supra, 40 Cal.4th at p. 541, 53 Cal.Rptr.3d 856, 150 P.3d 738), is obviously more complicated than the MDO Act's one-year commitments. (See §§ 2962-2972; see ante, 64 Cal. Rptr.3d at pp. 128-129, 164 P.3d at pp. 560-561.) While the LPS Act asks whether as a result of a mental disorder, a person is a danger to self or others (see, e.g., Welf. & Inst.Code, §§ 5150, 5250, 5300)the latter of which is similar to the MDO Act (Pen.Code, § 2970)another salient question for detention under the LPS Act is whether the person is gravely disabled as a result of a mental disorder. (Welf. & Inst.Code, § 5008, subd. (h)(1).) [7] As relevant here, gravely disabled means [a] condition in which a person, as a result of a mental disorder, is unable to provide for his or her basic personal needs for food, clothing, or shelter. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 5008(h)(1)(A); but see id., § 5350, subd. (e) [not gravely disabled if family/friends indicate in writing they are willing and able to help provide for conservatee's personal needs].) However, in addition to the somewhat piecemeal short-term detentions discussed above, a one-year conservatorship may be sought, similar to the one-year commitments under the MDO Act. (Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 5350, 5361; Prob.Code, § 1400 et seq. [governing LPS Act conservatorships]; see also Welf. & Inst.Code, § 5352.1 [court-ordered temporary conservatorship of 30 days].) Conservatorship proceedings may only be initiated by the professional person in charge of the treatment facility, who recommends a conservatorship if the proposed conservatee is gravely disabled by a mental disorder. If the officer providing conservatorship investigation agrees with the recommendation, the officer may petition the superior court to establish a conservatorship. (Welf. & Inst.Code, §§ 5352, 5352.5.) Once established, a conservatorship terminates automatically at the end of one year, unless the conservator petitions to reestablish conservatorship at or before the termination of the one-year period. (Id., §§ 5361, 5362.)