Statute 59-29b53: Investigation; emergency detention;
authority and duty of law enforcement officers.
(a) Any law enforcement officer who has a reasonable belief
formed upon investigation that a person may be a person with an
alcohol or substance abuse problem subject to involuntary
commitment and is likely to cause harm to self or others if
allowed to remain at liberty may take the person into custody
without a warrant. The officer shall transport the person to a
treatment facility or other facility for care or treatment where
the person shall be examined by a physician or psychologist on
duty at the facility. If no physician or psychologist is on duty
at the time the person is transported to the facility, the person
shall be examined within a reasonable time not to exceed 17
hours. If a written statement is made by the physician or
psychologist at the facility that after preliminary examination
the physician or psychologist believes the person likely to be a
person with an alcohol or substance abuse problem subject to
involuntary commitment for care and treatment and is likely to
cause harm to self or others if allowed to remain at liberty, and
if the facility is a treatment facility and is willing to admit
the person, the law enforcement officer shall present to that
treatment facility the application provided for in subsection (b)
of
K.S.A. 59-29b54 and amendments thereto. If the physician or
psychologist on duty at the facility does not believe the person
likely to be a person with an alcohol or substance abuse problem
subject to involuntary commitment for care and treatment, the law
enforcement officer shall return the person to the place where
the person was taken into custody and release the person at that
place or at another place in the same community as requested by
the person or if the law enforcement officer believes that it is
not in the best interests of the person or the person's family or
the general public for the person to be returned to the place the
person was taken into custody, then the person shall be released
at another place the law enforcement officer believes to be
appropriate under the circumstances. The person may request to be
released immediately after the examination, in which case the law
enforcement officer shall immediately release the person, unless
the law enforcement officer believes it is in the best interests
of the person or the person's family or the general public that
the person be taken elsewhere for release.
(b) If the physician or psychologist on duty at the
facility states that, in the physician's or psychologist's
opinion, the person is likely to be a person with an alcohol or
substance abuse problem subject to involuntary commitment for
care and treatment but the facility is unwilling or is an
inappropriate place to which to admit the person, the facility
shall nevertheless provide a suitable place at which the person
may be detained by the law enforcement officer. If a law enforcement officer
detains a person pursuant to this subsection,
the law enforcement officer shall file the petition provided for
in subsection (a) of
K.S.A. 59-29b57 and amendments thereto, by the
close of business of the first day that the district court is
open for the transaction of business or shall release the person.
No person shall be detained by a law enforcement officer pursuant
to this subsection in a nonmedical facility used for the
detention of persons charged with or convicted of a crime unless
no other suitable facility at which such person may be detained
is willing to accept the person.
History: L. 1998, ch. 134, § 9; July 1.