The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 18: Health

Chapter 175: The Board of Mental Health

• § 7301. Creation

  The State Board of Mental Health is created. It shall consist of seven persons, two of whom are physicians and one an attorney. A member may not be a trustee, officer, or employee of any institution for mental patients. Biennially, the Governor shall appoint, with the advice and consent of the Senate, two or three members for terms of six years in such manner that three terms expire in each third biennial year and two in other biennial years. The Board, with the advice of the Commissioner, shall make Department policy. Biennially or when a vacancy occurs, the Board shall elect a Chair and a Secretary. (Added 1967, No. 305 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1968.)

• § 7302. Subcommittee on institutions

  The Board may delegate to a subcommittee on institutions, composed of two doctors and a lawyer, its functions under sections 7305, 7306, and 7308-7313 of this title, and the action of a majority of the subcommittee shall be that of the Board. (Added 1967, No. 305 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1968.)

• § 7303. Repealed. 2005, No. 174 (Adj. Sess.), § 140(4).

• § 7304. Persons not hospitalized

  The Board shall have general jurisdiction of persons with an intellectual disability or mental illness who have been discharged from a hospital by authority of the Board. It shall also have jurisdiction of persons with a mental illness or intellectual disability of the State not hospitalized, so far as concerns their physical and mental condition and their care, management, and medical treatment, and shall make such orders as each case duly brought to its attention requires. (Added 1967, No. 305 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1968; amended 1977, No. 257 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 2013, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 102; 2017, No. 113 (Adj. Sess.), § 100; 2023, No. 6, § 198, eff. July 1, 2023.)

• § 7305. Powers of Board

  The Board may administer oaths, summon witnesses before it in a case under investigation, and discharge by its order, in writing, any person confined as a patient in a hospital whom it finds on investigation to be wrongfully hospitalized or in a condition to warrant discharge. The Board shall discharge patients, not criminals, who have eloped from a hospital and have not been apprehended at the expiration of six months from the time of their elopement. The Board shall not order the discharge of a patient without giving the superintendent of the hospital an opportunity to be heard. (Added 1967, No. 305 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1968.)

• §§ 7306-7308. Repealed. 1977, No. 252 (Adj. Sess.), § 36.

• § 7309. Referrals from Governor

  The Governor may refer the case of a patient in a hospital to the Board for its investigation. The Board shall investigate the case and by its order grant such relief as each case requires. If the Board is without power to grant the necessary relief it shall cause proceedings to be commenced in a court of competent jurisdiction at the expense of the State, in order to obtain the necessary relief and promote the ends of justice and humanity. (Added 1967, No. 305 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1968.)

• § 7310. Petition for inquiry

  The attorney or guardian of a patient or any other interested party may apply to the Board to inquire into the treatment and hospitalization of a patient, and the Board shall take appropriate action upon the application. (Added 1967, No. 305 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1968.)

• § 7311. Investigation

  If, in the judgment of the Board, an investigation is necessary, it shall appoint a time and place for hearing and give the patient’s attorney, guardian, spouse, parent, adult child, or interested party, if any, in that order, and the head of the hospital reasonable notice thereof. At the time appointed, it shall conduct a hearing and make any lawful order the case requires. (Added 1967, No. 305 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1968; amended 2017, No. 113 (Adj. Sess.), § 101.)

• § 7312. Penalty; failure to obey summons

  A person legally summoned as a witness before the Board on behalf of the State, or summoned by other parties with a tender of his or her fees, which shall be the same as those allowed witnesses in a Criminal Division of the Superior Court, who willfully and wrongfully refuses to attend or testify shall be imprisoned not more than six months or fined not more than $100.00 nor less than $10.00, or both. (Added 1967, No. 305 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1968; amended 2009, No. 154 (Adj. Sess.), § 238.)

• § 7313. Board shall visit institution

  The Board shall ascertain by examination and inquiry whether the laws relating to individuals in custody or control are properly observed and may use all necessary means to collect all desired information. It shall carefully inspect every part of the hospital or training school visited with reference to its cleanliness and sanitary condition, determine the number of patients or students in seclusion or restraint, the diet of the patients or students, and any other matters that it considers material. It shall offer to every patient or student an opportunity for an interview with its visiting members or agents, and shall investigate those cases that in its judgment require special investigation and particularly shall ascertain whether any individuals are retained at any hospital or training school who ought to be discharged. (Added 1967, No. 305 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1968.)

• § 7314. Reciprocal agreements

  The Board may enter into reciprocal agreements with corresponding state agencies of other states regarding the interstate transportation or transfer of persons with a psychiatric or intellectual disability and arrange with the proper officials in this State for the acceptance, transfer, and support of residents of this State who are temporarily detained or receiving care in public institutions of other states in accordance with the terms of such agreements. (Added 1967, No. 305 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1968; amended 1977, No. 257 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; 2013, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 103.)

• § 7315. Definition

  As used in this chapter, the term “hospital” shall include a secure residential recovery facility as defined in subsection 7620(e) of this title. (Added 2011, No. 160 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 17, 2012.)