Any employee who has reasonable cause to believe that an assault or a battery has been committed upon a patient shall make an immediate report, including the identity of parties and witnesses and details of the incident, to the director of the department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals, or his or her designee. The director of the department shall cause the report to be investigated immediately and further shall notify the mental health advocate and appropriate law enforcement agencies of the investigation. Any person who fails to make a report shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500).
R.I. Gen. Laws § 40.1-5-40.1
Duty to report
Known as the Mental Health Law
The act spans §§ 40.1-5-1 to 40.1-5-9 (48 sections).
P.L. 1983, ch. 145, § 1; P.L. 2012, ch. 254, § 4; P.L. 2012, ch. 264, § 4.
Official source: Rhode Island General Assembly. Reproduced from public-domain Rhode Island statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.