Mental Illness

Plain English Breakdown

The bill does not specify what happens to people's legal rights during discharge proceedings.

Mental Health Commitment and Discharge Act

This bill changes how people who are involuntarily committed for mental health treatment can be discharged from hospitals by expanding review requirements and notification procedures.

What This Bill Does

• Expands the requirement that a person must go through review before being released from involuntary commitment, regardless of why they were admitted.
• Requires hospital officials to notify not only the court but also the patient's next of kin and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation when someone is eligible for discharge.
• Limits sending notices to district attorneys in certain cases where patients are committed due to criminal conduct posing a risk to others or incompetence to stand trial.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who are involuntarily committed for mental health treatment
• Courts involved in involuntary commitment cases
• Hospital officials responsible for patient care and release decisions

Terms To Know

Involuntary Commitment

When a person is admitted to a hospital against their will because they are considered a danger to themselves or others due to mental illness.

Next of Kin

The closest living blood relative, typically the one who would inherit if there were no will.

Limits and Unknowns

• It is unclear how much this bill will cost or what new positions might be needed.
• There are no details on how the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will use information received from hospitals.

Official Summary Text

Present law prohibits a person from being discharged from involuntary commitment (i) if the person is committed
involuntarily by a criminal or juvenile court under
nonemergency involuntary admission to inpatient treatment
after being
found incompetent to stand trial or
(ii)
if the criminal or juvenile court determines at the time of commitment that, due to the nature of the person's criminal conduct that created a serious risk of physical harm to other persons
, the person should not be
discharged without proceedings to review eligibility for discharge. This bill revises this provision by expanding the requirement of proceedings to review eligibility for discharge to any person who is involuntarily committed.

DISCHARGE PROCEDURE

W
hen
the chief officer of
the applicable
public or private hospital determines that the person is eligible for discharge,
present law requires the
chief officer
to
notify the committing court of that conclusion, of the basis for it, and,
for certain
discharge
s
, of the outpatient treatment plan approved by the releasing facility and the qualified mental health professional for the person.
The court clerk is then required to send a copy of the chief officer's notice of discharge and the outpatient treatment plan
to the person's counsel and the district attorney for the jurisdiction in which the committing court is located.

This bill revises the above provisions by (i) requiring the court clerk to send a copy of the chief officer's notice of discharge and the ou
tpatient treatment plan to the person's next of kin and the Tennessee bureau of investigation and (ii) limiting such notice going to the
district attorney general for the jurisdiction in which the committing court is located
and the judicial district in wh
ich the person resides to only those instances where
the person was committed involuntarily by a criminal or juvenile court under nonemergency involuntary admission to inpatient treatment after being found incompetent to stand trial or
where
the criminal o
r juvenile court determines at the time of commitment that, due to the nature of the person's criminal conduct that created a serious risk of physical harm to other persons, the person should not be discharged from the commitment without proceedings to re
v
iew eligibility for discharge
.

DISCHARGE HEARING

If
the court sets a hearing,
present law requires
the hearing
to
be held within 21
d
ays of the court's receipt of notice from the chief officer.

The person
must
attend the hearing, unless the person's pr
esence is waived in writing by counsel before the hearing.

If the person does not have counsel, the court
must
appoint counsel to represent the person throughout the proceedings and any appeal.

The person's counsel
must
advocate for the least drastic alt
ernative to commitment, unless directed otherwise by the person.

Compensation of appointed counsel for the person
must
be pursuant to Tennessee Rules of the Supreme Court, Rule 15.

Following the hearing,
present law provides that
if the court finds by clear, unequivocal, and convincing evidence that the person is not eligible for discharge,
then the court must
order the person's return to the hospital under the original commitment.

If the court finds otherwise, it
must
order the p
erson's release from involuntary commitment in accordance with the recommendations of the chief officer.

This bill removes all of these provisions and, instead, requires that the person be discharged in conformity with this bill.

Current Bill Text

HOUSE BILL 206
By Barrett

SENATE BILL 241
By Taylor

SB0241
001628
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 33
and Title 52, relative to mental health.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 33-6-708, is amended by deleting
subsection (a) and substituting:
(a) If a person is committed involuntarily under chapter 6, part 5 of this title, then
the person shall not be discharged from the commitment without proceedings under this
section to review eligibility for discharge under §§ 33-6-602, 33-6-705, and 33-6-706.
The hospital shall proceed under this section to effect discharge from the commitment.
SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 33-6-708, is amended by deleting
subdivision (c)(1) and substituting:
(A) When the chief officer determines that the person is eligible for discharge
under § 33-6-602, § 33-6-705, or § 33-6-706, the chief officer shall notify the committing
court of that conclusion, of the basis for it, and, if discharge is under § 33-6-602, of the
outpatient treatment plan approved by the releasing facility and the qualified mental
health professional for the person. The determination by the chief officer shall create a
rebuttable presumption of its correctness.
(B) The clerk shall send a copy of that complete notice and plan to:
(i) The person's counsel;
(ii) The person's next of kin;
(iii) The district attorneys general for the judicial district in which the
committing court is located and the judicial district in which the person resides, if

- 2 - 001628

the person was committed involuntarily by a criminal or juvenile court under
chapter 6, part 5 of this title after being found incompetent to stand trial or if the
criminal or juvenile court determines at the time of commitment that, due to the
nature of the person's criminal conduct that created a serious risk of physical
harm to other persons, the person should not be discharged from the
commitment without proceedings under this section to review eligibility for
discharge under §§ 33-6-602, 33-6-705, and 33-6-706; and
(iv) The Tennessee bureau of investigation.
(C) The court may, on its own motion or that of the person's next of kin or a
district attorney general, order a hearing to be held within twenty-one (21) days of the
receipt of the chief officer's notice. The court shall send notice of the hearing to the
person, the chief officer, and the persons listed in subdivisions (c)(1)(B)(i)–(iii).
SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 33-6-706, is amended by deleting
subdivisions (3) and (4) and substituting:
(3) The person shall be discharged in conformity with § 33-6-708.
SECTION 4. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it.