1. The state hospitals for persons with mental illness shall be designated as follows:
a. Mental Health Institute, Independence, Iowa.
b. Mental Health Institute, Cherokee, Iowa.
2. a. The purpose of the mental health institutes is to operate as regional resource centers providing one or more of the following:
(1) Treatment, training, care, habilitation, and support of persons with mental illness including:
(a) Specialized treatment of behaviorally complex youth at a mental health institute located in Independence.
(b) Specialized treatment and security for adults ordered by the court into the custody of the state for the purposes of competency restoration, adults who have been acquitted of a crime by reason of insanity, and similarly situated adults at a mental health institute in Cherokee.
(2) Facilities, services, and other support to the communities located in the region being served by a mental health institute so as to maximize the usefulness of the mental health institutes while minimizing overall costs.
(3) A unit for the civil commitment of sexually violent predators committed to the custody of the director pursuant to chapter 229A.
b. In addition, the mental health institutes are encouraged to act as a training resource for community-based program staff, medical students, and other participants in professional education programs.
3. A mental health institute may request the approval of the department to change the name of the institution for use in communication with the public, in signage, and in other forms of communication.
4. For the purposes of this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
a. “Administrative services organization” means the same as defined in section 225A.1.
b. “Department” means the department of health and human services.
c. “Director” means the director of health and human services.
d. “Mental health institute” or “state mental health institute” means a state hospital for persons with mental illness as designated in this chapter.
96 Acts, ch 1129, §113; 98 Acts, ch 1155, §10
;
; 2009 Acts, ch 41, §263; 2015 Acts, ch 69, §44; 2019 Acts, ch 100, §2; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §471; 2023 Acts, ch 140, §1; 2024 Acts, ch 1161, §66, 67, 137; 2024 Acts, ch 1170, §412
Unit for civil commitment of sexually violent predators located at the mental health institute at Cherokee;
2024 amendments to subsection 4 by 2024 Acts, ch 11612024 Acts, ch 1161, effective July 1, 2025;
Subsection 4 amended and editorially internally redesignated