Court Opinion

ID: 8245119
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-10-16 09:27:37.91495+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T16:42:40.612327
License: Public Domain

VANDE WALLE, Chief Justice,
dissenting.
[¶ 18] Because I do not believe N.D.C.C. § 25-03.1-18.1 requires that before ordering medication the court must again find that a patient is a person requiring treatment if there is another order in effect which makes that finding, I respectfully dissent.
[¶ 19] There is no doubt that before a person can be involuntarily treated with prescribed medication the person must be found to require treatment. But there is no distinction between the standards needed to establish the necessity for treatment. The statute does not recognize that a person may be in need of treatment when treatment with medication is not requested but may not be a person in need of treatment if involuntary medication is requested. Nor do I believe the majority opinion draws such a distinction. However without that distinction there is no reason to require the court to twice find that a person is in need of treatment.
[¶ 20] Rather, N.D.C.C. § 25-03.1-18.1(3) provides:
If the factors certified under subsection 1 have been demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence, the court may include in its involuntary treatment order a provision, or it may issue a separate order after notice and hearing, authorizing the treating psychiatrist to involuntarily treat the patient with prescribed medication on such terms and conditions as are appropriate. The order for involuntary treatment with prescribed medication, however, may not be in effect for more than ninety days.
(Emphasis added.)
[¶ 21] Furthermore, the statutes specify the length of involuntary treatment orders. See N.D.C.C. §§ 25-03.1-22(2) (continuing treatment order may be for a period not to exceed one year); 25-03.1-30(2) (patient must be discharged when patient is no longer a person requiring treatment); 25-03.1-31(2) (individual subject to continuing treatment order has right to petition the court for discharge once annually). Absent the termination of a continuing treatment order because of lapse of time, discharge because the superintendent determines a person no longer requires treatment or, on petition, the court determines the person no longer requires treatment, the individual remains a person requiring treatment within the meaning of N.D.C.C. § 25-03.1-18.1.
[¶ 22] In this case, a one-year continuing treatment order was issued on August 22, 2007, which found T.E. was a person requiring treatment. A separate order issued on January 4, 2008, authorizing involuntary treatment with prescribed medication, made the necessary additional finding. The January 4, 2008 order was issued while the August 22, 2007 order was still in effect. The requirements were met. I do not believe N.D.C.C. § 25-03.1-18.1(3) requires the court to make separate findings under N.D.C.C. § 25-*68303.1 — 18.1(l)(a) when issuing an order to treat with prescribed medication if those findings were previously made in a separate involuntary treatment order currently in effect.
[¶ 23] I would affirm the order of the district court.
[¶ 24] GERALD W. VANDE WALLE, C.J., and DALE V. SANDSTROM, J.