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Tex. Health & Safety Code § 573.021

PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION

Known as the Texas Mental Health Code

The act spans §§ 571–580 (237 sections).

Applied in 6 court decisions — leading case Providence Health Center v. Dowell (2008)

Most recently applied in Pena ex rel. Estate of Cornell v. Givens (November 2015)

Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 76, Sec. 1, eff

How often courts cite this section

199620002010201520
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(a) A facility shall temporarily accept a person for whom an application for detention is filed or for whom a peace officer or emergency medical services personnel of an emergency medical services provider transporting the person in accordance with a memorandum of understanding executed under Section 573.005 files a notification of detention completed by the peace officer under Section 573.002(a).

(b) A person accepted for a preliminary examination may be detained in custody for not longer than 48 hours after the time the person is presented to the facility unless a written order for protective custody is obtained. The 48-hour period allowed by this section includes any time the patient spends waiting in the facility for medical care before the person receives the preliminary examination. If the 48-hour period ends on a Saturday, Sunday, legal holiday, or before 4 p.m. on the first succeeding business day, the person may be detained until 4 p.m. on the first succeeding business day. If the 48-hour period ends at a different time, the person may be detained only until 4 p.m. on the day the 48-hour period ends. If extremely hazardous weather conditions exist or a disaster occurs, the presiding judge or magistrate may, by written order made each day, extend by an additional 24 hours the period during which the person may be detained. The written order must declare that an emergency exists because of the weather or the occurrence of a disaster.

(c) A physician shall examine the person as soon as possible within 12 hours after the time the person is apprehended by the peace officer or transported for emergency detention by the person's guardian.

(d) A facility must comply with this section only to the extent that the commissioner determines that a facility has sufficient resources to perform the necessary services under this section.

(e) A person may not be detained in a private mental health facility without the consent of the facility administrator.

Official source: Texas Constitution and Statutes. Reproduced from public-domain Texas statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.