§ 7505. Warrant and certificate for emergency examination
(a) In emergency circumstances where certification by a licensed physician is not available
without serious and unreasonable delay, and when personal observation of the conduct
of a person constitutes reasonable grounds to believe that the person is a person
in need of treatment, and the person presents an immediate risk of serious injury
to self or others if not restrained, a law enforcement officer or mental health professional
may make an application, not accompanied by a physician’s certificate, to any Superior
judge for a warrant for an emergency examination. The application shall be based on
facts personally observed by the mental health professional or the law enforcement
officer or shall be supported by a statement of facts under penalty of perjury by
a person who personally observed the facts that form the basis of the application.
(b)(1) The law enforcement officer may take the person into temporary custody if the law
enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that the person poses a risk of
harm to self or others. The law enforcement officer or a mental health professional
shall apply to the court for the warrant without delay while the person is in temporary
custody. The law enforcement officer, or a mental health professional if clinically
appropriate, may then transport the person if the law enforcement officer or mental
health professional conducting the transport has probable cause to believe that the
person poses a risk of harm to self or others.
(2) Transports conducted pursuant to this subsection shall provide individuals with the
same protections as provided to individuals in the custody of the Commissioner who
are transported pursuant to section 7511 of this title.
(c) If the judge is satisfied that a physician’s certificate is not available without
serious and unreasonable delay, and that probable cause exists to believe that the
person is in need of an emergency examination, the judge may order the person to submit
to an evaluation by a licensed physician for that purpose.
(d)(1) If necessary, the court may order the law enforcement officer to transport the person
to a hospital for an evaluation by a licensed physician to determine if the person
should be certified for an emergency examination.
(2) Transports conducted pursuant to this subsection shall provide individuals with the
same protections as provided to individuals in the custody of the Commissioner who
are transported pursuant to section 7511 of this title.
(e) Authority to transport a person pursuant to this section shall expire if the person
is not taken into custody and transported within 72 hours after a warrant is issued
by a Superior judge.
(f) A person transported pursuant to subsection (d) of this section shall be evaluated
as soon as possible after arrival at the hospital. If after evaluation the licensed
physician determines that the person is a person in need of treatment, the licensed
physician shall issue an initial certificate that sets forth the facts and circumstances
constituting the need for an emergency examination and showing that the person is
a person in need of treatment. Once the licensed physician has issued the initial
certificate, the person shall be held for an emergency examination in accordance with
section 7508 of this title. If the licensed physician does not certify that the person is a person in need of
treatment, the licensed physician shall immediately discharge the person and cause
the person to be returned to the place from which the person was taken, or to such
place as the person reasonably directs. (Added 1967, No. 305 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1968; amended 1977, No. 252 (Adj. Sess.), § 8; 2013, No. 192 (Adj. Sess.), § 6, eff. Nov. 1, 2014; 2023, No. 25, § 1, eff. July 1, 2023.)