Colorado § 27-65-112 - Termination of certification for short-term and long-term treatment.

§ 27-65-112. Termination of certification for short-term and long-term treatment.

(1) (a) An original or extended certification for short-term treatment issued pursuant to section 27-65-108.5, 27-65-109, or 27-65-109.5, or an order or extension for certification for long-term care and treatment pursuant to section 27-65-110, terminates when the professional person in charge of treatment of the respondent and the BHA, after a reasonable observation and treatment period, determine the respondent no longer meets the criteria for certification for short-term treatment pursuant to section 27-65-108.3 (1).

(b) Prior to terminating a certification for short-term treatment, the facility or community provider that is certified to provide treatment to the respondent shall review and consider the reasonably available history of the respondent, including any history of emergency mental health holds invoked pursuant to section 27-65-106, certifications for short-term treatment or long-term care and treatment, findings of incompetency to proceed pursuant to article 8 or 8.5 of title 16, and inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations.

(c) A certification for short-term treatment must not be terminated less than thirty days after the date of the initial certification unless the termination complies with subsection (1)(d) of this section. A certification for short-term treatment of a respondent who has a persistent mental health disorder must not be terminated unless the termination complies with subsection (1)(e) of this section unless the certification is being terminated by:

(I) A community provider holding an outpatient certification that employs two or more professional persons; or

(II) A facility holding an inpatient certification that has two or more professional persons working in the twelve hours preceding the time prior to the termination.

(d) (I) The professional person in charge of the respondent's care shall not approve the termination of the respondent's certification within thirty days after the date of the initial certification for short-term treatment unless two professional persons have individually consulted and reviewed the respondent's case and agree that the respondent no longer meets the criteria for certification for short-term treatment.

(II) At least one of the professional persons must be the professional person most responsible for interacting with and providing direct care and treatment to the respondent. The professional person in charge of the respondent's care may serve as one of the two professional persons if the professional person in charge of the respondent's care is the professional person most responsible for interacting with and providing direct care and treatment to the respondent. The other professional person is not required to interact with the respondent. This subsection (1)(d) does not prevent either professional person from interacting with or examining the respondent if it is medically appropriate.

(III) When consulting and reviewing the respondent's case, both professional persons shall consider the requirements of section 27-65-108.3 (2), (3), and (4).

(e) The professional person in charge of the care of a respondent who has a persistent mental health disorder shall not approve the termination of the respondent's certification from an inpatient setting within thirty days after the date of the initial certification for short-term treatment unless two professional persons independently evaluate the respondent, independently agree that the respondent no longer meets the criteria for certification for short-term treatment, and independently sign a statement in accordance with subsection (1)(f) of this section. Both professional persons shall consider the requirements of section 27-65-108.3 (2), (3), and (4).

(f) (I) If the respondent has a persistent mental health disorder and the professional person is discharging the certification for short-term treatment from an inpatient setting, the professional person shall sign a written statement that states:

(A) Terminating the certification for short-term treatment, rather than transferring the certification to an outpatient provider or outpatient setting, is medically appropriate; and

(B) The professional person reasonably believes that the respondent will seek the recommended psychiatric care without a continued certification within the next sixty days despite considerations of any past: Psychiatric deterioration; statements of the respondent asserting a willingness to seek voluntary care that the respondent did not subsequently pursue; history of repetitive emergency mental health holds pursuant to section 27-65-106 or certifications for short-term treatment or long-term care and treatment; and criminal charges for which the respondent was found incompetent to proceed pursuant to article 8.5 of title 16.

(II) This subsection (1)(f) does not create a cause of action. A professional person or entity that provides care to a respondent under a certification is not liable for compliance or noncompliance with this subsection (1)(f).

(g) Subsections (1)(d), (1)(e), and (1)(f) of this section do not apply if a certification for short-term treatment is transferred to another inpatient or outpatient provider or if a respondent is discharged from an inpatient setting when the professional person signs an outpatient certification pursuant to section 27-65-109.5 (3)(e) that includes a statement that a provider needs to be identified.

(h) When a certification for short-term treatment or an extended certification is terminated pursuant to this section, the professional person in charge of providing treatment to the respondent shall notify the court in writing within five days after the termination. If the respondent has a persistent mental health disorder and was terminated from an inpatient setting within thirty days after the date of the initial short-term certification, the notice must include a copy of the statement described in subsection (1)(f) of this section and be placed in the respondent's medical record.

(2) Before termination, a respondent who leaves a facility may be returned to the facility by order of the court without a hearing or by the superintendent or director of the facility without a court order. After termination, a respondent may be returned to the facility only in accordance with this article 65.

Source: L. 2022: Entire article amended with relocations, (HB 22-1256), ch. 451, p. 3192, § 1, effective August 10; entire section amended, (HB 22-1256), ch. 451, p. 3219, § 4, effective July 1, 2024. L. 2023: (1) amended, (HB 23-1138), ch. 423, p. 2490, § 15, effective July 1, 2024. L. 2026: (1) amended, (SB 26-149), ch. 142, p. 746, § 14, effective May 21.

Editor's note: The provisions of this section are similar to former § 27-65-110 as it existed prior to 2022. For a detailed comparison, see the comparative tables located in the back of the index.

ANNOTATION

Law reviews. For article, "Patients' Rights vs. Patients' Needs: The Right of the Mentally Ill to Refuse Treatment in Colorado", see 58 Den. L.J. 567 (1981). For article, "Perreira v. Colorado — A Psychiatrist's Duty to Protect Others", see 18 Colo. Law. 2323 (1989).

Annotator's note. Since § 27-65-112 is similar to § 27-65-110 as it existed prior to the 2022 amendments to this article, relevant cases construing that provision have been included in the annotations to this section.

Superintendent may release inmate only upon restoration to reason. The only ground upon which the superintendent of the Colorado state hospital can legally release an inmate therefrom is restoration to reason. People ex rel. Best v. County Court, 110 Colo. 249, 132 P.2d 799 (1942).

When person is no longer insane he is restored to reason, and, consequently, when the court found respondent not mentally ill as charged in the complaint, the court had a duty to order her discharged, and in failing to do so, it committed error. In re People in Interest of Hill, 118 Colo. 571, 198 P.2d 450 (1948).

Standard of care for determining release. In determining whether to release an involuntarily committed mental patient, the psychiatrist has a legal duty to exercise due care, consistent with the knowledge and skill ordinarily possessed by psychiatric practitioners under similar circumstances to determine whether the patient has a propensity for violence and would present an unreasonable risk of serious bodily harm to others. Perreira v. State, 768 P.2d 1198 (Colo. 1989).

In discharging his duty, a psychiatrist may be required to take reasonable precautions to protect the public from the danger created by the release giving due consideration to extending the term of the patient's commitment or placing appropriate conditions and restrictions on such release. Perreira v. State, 768 P.2d 1198 (Colo. 1989).

Order remanding inmate to asylum without new trial by jury held proper. Where it appeared to the district court that an inmate of the state insane asylum, having received a probationary discharge, was not restored to reason, an order remanding him to the asylum without a new trial by jury was held proper. Metaxos v. People, 76 Colo. 264, 230 P. 608 (1924).

Distinction permitted from escape by person committed by criminal insanity adjudication. Given the state's obvious interest in protecting the public from those who previously have engaged in overt criminal conduct but have been relieved of criminal responsibility by reason of legal insanity, there is no difficulty in finding a rational basis for legislation that proscribes as criminal a knowing escape by a person committed to an institution as a result of an insanity adjudication in a criminal case, but does not impose a similar sanction upon a person who escapes from a facility to which he has been civilly committed. People v. Giles, 662 P.2d 1073 (Colo. 1983).

For continuing jurisdiction of district court, see Zimmerman v. Angele, 137 Colo. 129, 321 P.2d 1105 (1958).

Applied in People v. Chavez, 629 P.2d 1040 (Colo. 1981).