North Carolina § 122C-201 - Declaration of policy.

§ 122C-201. Declaration of policy.

It is State policy to encourage voluntary admissions to facilities. It is further State policy that no individual shall be involuntarily committed to a 24-hour facility unless that individual is mentally ill or a substance abuser and dangerous to self or others. All admissions and commitments shall be accomplished under conditions that protect the dignity and constitutional rights of the individual. It is further State policy that, except as provided in G.S. 122C-212(b) , individuals who have been voluntarily admitted shall be discharged upon application and that involuntarily committed individuals shall be discharged as soon as a less restrictive mode of treatment is appropriate. History (1973, c. 723, s. 1; c. 726, s. 1; c. 1084; c. 1408, s. 1; 1977, c. 400, s. 1; 1979, c. 915, ss. 2, 11; 1983, c. 638, s. 1; c. 864, s. 4; 1985, c. 589, s. 2; 1995 (Reg. Sess., 1996), c. 739, s. 2.) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 1995 (Reg. Sess., 1996), c. 739, s. 15, effective January 1, 1997, and applicable to commitments on or after that date, provides: "Nothing in this act shall require hospitals licensed under G.S. 131E or G.S. 122C to contract with area mental health, developmental disabilities, and substance abuse authorities to provide inpatient or outpatient treatment for persons who are mentally retarded with mental illness." Legal Periodicals. - For survey of 1979 administrative law, see 58 N.C.L. Rev. 1185 (1980). For article on the result of the 1979 statutory changes in involuntary civil commitment in North Carolina, see 60 N.C.L. Rev. 985 (1982). For article on the attorney's role in involuntary civil commitment in North Carolina, see 60 N.C.L. Rev. 1027 (1982). For note discussing the overinclusive and underinclusive nature of the North Carolina involuntary civil commitment system, see 63 N.C.L. Rev. 241 (1984). For article discussing involuntary commitment of the mentally disabled, see 14 N.C. Cent. L.J. 406 (1984). For note on the duty to commit dangerous mental patients, see 66 N.C.L. Rev. 1311 (1988). For note, "Helplessly Imprisoned: State v. Hammonds Holds Involuntarily Committed Patients to the Same Constitutional Restraints as Prisoners," see 38 N.C. Cent. L. Rev. 173 (2016).