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S4123
SENATE, No. 4123
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
INTRODUCED MAY 11, 2026
Sponsored by:
Senator� KRISTIN M. CORRADO
District 40 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
���� Requires involuntary commitment of certain
individuals who have been administered opioid antidotes.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� As introduced.
��
An Act
concerning involuntary commitment to treatment and
amending P.L.1987, c.116.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� Section 2 of P.L.1987,
c.116 (C.30:4-27.2) is amended to read as follows:
���� 2.��� As used in P.L.1987,
c.116 (C.30:4-27.1 et seq.) and P.L.2009, c.112:
���� a.���� "Chief executive
officer" means the person who is the chief administrative officer of an
institution or psychiatric facility.�
���� b.��� "Clinical
certificate" means a form prepared by the division and approved by the
Administrative Office of the Courts, that is completed by the psychiatrist or
other physician who has examined the person who is subject to commitment within
three days of presenting the person for involuntary commitment to treatment,
and which states that the person is in need of involuntary commitment to
treatment.� The form shall also state the specific facts upon which the
examining physician has based his conclusion and shall be certified in
accordance with the Rules of the Court.� A clinical certificate may not be
executed by a person who is a relative by blood or marriage to the person who
is being screened.
���� c.���� "Clinical
director" means the person who is designated by the director or chief
executive officer to organize and supervise the clinical services provided in a
screening service, short-term care or psychiatric facility.� The clinical
director shall be a psychiatrist; however, those persons currently serving in
the capacity will not be affected by this provision.� This provision shall not
alter any current civil service laws designating the qualifications of such
position.
���� d.��� "Commissioner"
means the Commissioner of Human Services.
���� e.���� "County
counsel" means the chief legal officer or advisor of the governing body of
a county.
���� f.���� "Court" means
the Superior Court or a municipal court.
���� g.��� "Custody"
means the right and responsibility to ensure the provision of care and
supervision.
���� h.��� "Dangerous to
self" means that by reason of mental illness the person has threatened or
attempted suicide or serious bodily harm,
has been administered an opioid
antidote for the emergency treatment of an apparent opioid overdose,
or has
behaved in such a manner as to indicate that the person is unable to satisfy
his need for nourishment, essential medical care or shelter, so that it is
probable that substantial bodily injury, serious physical harm, or death will
result within the reasonably foreseeable future; however, no person shall be
deemed to be unable to satisfy his need for nourishment, essential medical
care, or shelter if he is able to satisfy such needs with the supervision and
assistance of others who are willing and available.� This determination shall
take into account a person's history, recent behavior, and any recent act,
threat, or serious psychiatric deterioration.
An individual who has recently
been administered an opioid antidote for the emergency treatment of an apparent
opioid overdose shall be determined to be dangerous to self.
���� i.���� "Dangerous to
others or property" means that by reason of mental illness there is a
substantial likelihood that the person will inflict serious bodily harm upon
another person or cause serious property damage within the reasonably
foreseeable future. This determination shall take into account a person's
history, recent behavior, and any recent act, threat, or serious psychiatric
deterioration.
���� j.���� "Department"
means the Department of Human Services.
���� k.��� "Director"
means the chief administrative officer of a screening service, short-term care
facility, or special psychiatric hospital.
���� l.���� "Division"
means the Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services in the Department of
Human Services.
���� m.�� "In need of
involuntary commitment" or "in need of involuntary commitment to
treatment" means that an adult with mental illness, whose mental illness
causes the person to be dangerous to self or dangerous to others or property
and who is unwilling to accept appropriate treatment voluntarily after it has
been offered, needs outpatient treatment or inpatient care at a short-term care
or psychiatric facility or special psychiatric hospital because other services
are not appropriate or available to meet the person's mental health care needs.
���� n.��� "Institution"
means any State or county facility providing inpatient care, supervision, and
treatment for persons with developmental disabilities; except that with respect
to the maintenance provisions of Title 30 of the Revised Statutes, institution
also means any psychiatric facility for the treatment of persons with mental
illness.
���� o.��� "Mental health
agency or facility" means a legal entity which receives funds from the
State, county, or federal government to provide mental health services.
���� p.��� "Mental health
screener" means a psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, registered
professional nurse, licensed marriage and family therapist, or other individual
trained to do outreach only for the purposes of psychological assessment who is
employed by a screening service and possesses the license, academic training or
experience, as required by the commissioner pursuant to regulation; except that
a psychiatrist and a State licensed clinical psychologist who meet the
requirements for mental health screener shall not have to comply with any
additional requirements adopted by the commissioner.
���� q.��� "Mental
hospital" means, for the purposes of the payment and maintenance
provisions of Title 30 of the Revised Statutes, a psychiatric facility.
���� r.���� "Mental
illness" means a current, substantial disturbance of thought, mood,
perception, or orientation which significantly impairs judgment, capacity to
control behavior, or capacity to recognize reality, but does not include simple
alcohol intoxication, transitory reaction to drug ingestion, organic brain
syndrome, or developmental disability unless it results in the severity of
impairment described herein.� The term mental illness is not limited to
"psychosis" or "active psychosis," but shall include all
conditions that result in the severity of impairment described herein.
���� s.���� "Patient"
means a person over the age of 18 who has been admitted to, but not discharged
from a short-term care or psychiatric facility, or who has been assigned to,
but not discharged from an outpatient treatment provider.
���� t.���� "Physician"
means a person who is licensed to practice medicine in any one of the United
States or its territories, or the District of Columbia.
���� u.��� "Psychiatric
facility" means a State psychiatric hospital listed in R.S.30:1-7, a
county psychiatric hospital, or a psychiatric unit of a county hospital.
���� v.��� "Psychiatrist"
means a physician who has completed the training requirements of the American
Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
���� w.�� "Psychiatric unit of
a general hospital" means an inpatient unit of a general hospital that
restricts its services to the care and treatment of persons with mental illness
who are admitted on a voluntary basis.
���� x.��� "Psychologist"
means a person who is licensed as a psychologist by the New Jersey Board of
Psychological Examiners.
���� y.��� "Screening
certificate" means a clinical certificate executed by a psychiatrist or
other physician affiliated with a screening service.
���� z.���� "Screening
service" means a public or private ambulatory care service, whether or not
affiliated with a hospital, designated by the commissioner, which provides
mental health services including assessment, emergency, and referral services
to persons with mental illness in a specified geographic area.
���� aa.�� "Screening
outreach visit" means an evaluation provided by a mental health screener
wherever the person may be when clinically relevant information indicates the
person may need involuntary commitment to treatment and is unable or unwilling
to come to a screening service.
���� bb.� "Short-term care
facility" means an inpatient, community based mental health treatment
facility that is designated to provide acute care and assessment services to a
person with mental illness whose mental illness causes the person to be dangerous
to self or dangerous to others or property.� A short-term care facility is
authorized to serve persons from a specified geographic area, may be a part of
a general hospital or other appropriate health care facility, and shall meet
certificate of need requirements and be licensed and inspected by the
Department of Health pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.).
���� cc.�� "Special
psychiatric hospital" means a public or private hospital licensed by the
Department of Health to provide voluntary and involuntary mental health
services, including assessment, care, supervision, treatment, and
rehabilitation services to persons with mental illness.
���� dd.� "Treatment
team" means one or more persons, including at least one psychiatrist or
physician, and may include a psychologist, social worker, nurse, licensed
marriage and family therapist, and other appropriate services providers.� A
treatment team provides mental health services to a patient of a screening
service, outpatient treatment provider, or short-term care or psychiatric
facility.
���� ee.�� "Voluntary
admission" means that an adult with mental illness, whose mental illness
causes the person to be dangerous to self or dangerous to others or property
and is willing to be admitted to a facility voluntarily for care, needs care at
a short-term care or psychiatric facility because other facilities or services
are not appropriate or available to meet the person's mental health needs. A
person may also be voluntarily admitted to a psychiatric facility if his mental
illness presents a substantial likelihood of rapid deterioration in functioning
in the near future, there are no appropriate community alternatives available,
and the psychiatric facility can admit the person and remain within its rated
capacity.
���� ff.�� "County
adjuster" means the person appointed pursuant to R.S.30:4-34.
���� gg.� "Least restrictive
environment" means the available setting and form of treatment that
appropriately addresses a person's need for care and the need to respond to
dangers to the person, others, or property and respects, to the greatest extent
practicable, the person's interests in freedom of movement and self-direction.
���� hh.� "Outpatient
treatment" means clinically appropriate care based on proven or promising
treatments directed to wellness and recovery, provided by a member of the
patient's treatment team to a person not in need of inpatient treatment.�
Outpatient treatment may include, but shall not be limited to, day treatment
services, case management, residential services, outpatient counseling and
psychotherapy, and medication treatment.
���� ii.��� "Outpatient
treatment provider" means a community-based provider, designated as an
outpatient treatment provider pursuant to section 8 of P.L.1987, c.116
(C.30:4-27.8), that provides or coordinates the provision of outpatient
treatment to persons in need of involuntary commitment to treatment.
���� jj.��� "Plan of
outpatient treatment" means a plan for recovery from mental illness
approved by a court pursuant to section 17 of P.L.2009, c.112 (C.30:4-27.15a)
that is to be carried out in an outpatient setting and is prepared by an
outpatient treatment provider for a patient who has a history of responding to
treatment.� The plan may include medication as a component of the plan;
however, medication shall not be involuntarily administered in an outpatient
setting.
���� kk.� "Reasonably
foreseeable future" means a time frame that may be beyond the immediate or
imminent, but not longer than a time frame as to which reasonably certain
judgments about a person's likely behavior can be reached.
���� ll.��� "Geographic
area" means a distinct area of the State that is designated by the
commissioner to be served by a screening service and may be a county, portion
of a county, or multi-county area.
����
mm.����������� "Opioid
antidote" means naloxone hydrochloride, or any other similarly acting drug
approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of
an opioid overdose.
(cf: P.L.2019, c.391, s.1)
���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill requires the
involuntary commitment of individuals who have been administered an opioid
antidote for the emergency treatment of an apparent opioid overdose.
���� This bill amends the law
governing involuntary commitment by amending the definition of the term
"dangerous to self" to include individuals who have been administered
an opioid antidote for the emergency treatment of an apparent opioid overdoes..�
The bill defines the term "opioid antidote" to mean naloxone
hydrochloride, or any other similarly acting drug approved by the United States
Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of an opioid overdose.� Under
the bill, an individual who has recently been administered an opioid antidote
is to be determined to be dangerous to self.