Tennessee § 41-21-223 - Complaint for judicial commitment of person scheduled for release to hospital or treatment resource — Stay of release pending completion of hearing.

§ 41-21-223. Complaint for judicial commitment of person scheduled for release to hospital or treatment resource — Stay of release pending completion of hearing.

If the commissioner of correction determines from an examination that a person who is in the custody of the department of correction has a mental illness or serious emotional disturbance and because of the mental illness or serious emotional disturbance poses a substantial likelihood of serious harm, as defined in § 33-6-501 , then the commissioner shall, no less than thirty (30) days before the person's scheduled release from a correctional facility, file a complaint with the clerk of the court that has jurisdiction under § 33-3-603 for the judicial commitment of the person to a hospital or treatment resource pursuant to title 33, chapter 6, part 5. The clerk shall serve to the person a copy of the complaint pursuant to § 33-3-605 , and shall send a copy of the complaint to the district attorney general with jurisdiction in that district. A complaint filed under this section stays the release of the person pending completion of a hearing pursuant to title 33, chapter 3, part 6. Acts 1955, ch. 204, § 2; impl. am. Acts 1955, ch. 102, § 1; 1977, ch. 387, § 1; T.C.A., § 41-349; Acts 2000, ch. 947, § 8C; 2019, ch. 504, § 1. Compiler's Notes. For table of U.S. decennial populations of Tennessee counties, see Volume 13 and its supplement. Amendments. The 2019 amendment rewrote the section, which read: “If the director of an institution of the department of correction determines from an examination that any person is mentally ill and because of this illness possesses a likelihood of serious harm as defined in title 33, chapter 6, part 5, the director may, within one (1) month of the time for the release of that person, petition the chancery or circuit court in the county where the institution is located, or division II of probate court in any county having a probate court and having a population of more than six hundred thousand (600,000), according to the 1970 federal census or any subsequent federal census, where the institution is located, for judicial commitment to a hospital or treatment resource pursuant to title 33, chapter 6, part 5.” Effective Dates. Acts 2019, ch. 504, § 2. July 1, 2019.