202A.031 Seventy-two-hour emergency admission. (1) An authorized staff physician may order the admission of any person who is present at, or is presented at, a hospital. For the purposes of this subsection only, a hospital may include any acute care hospital that is licensed by the Commonwealth. Within twenty-four (24) hours (excluding weekends and holidays) of the admission under this section, the authorized staff physician ordering the admission of the individual shall certify in the record of the individual that in his opinion the individual should be involuntarily hospitalized. (2) Any individual who has been admitted to a hospital under subsection (1) of this section shall be released from the hospital within seventy-two (72) hours (excluding weekends and holidays) unless further detained under the applicable provisions of this chapter. Effective: July 13, 2004 History: Amended 2004 Ky. Acts ch. 139, sec. 1, effective July 13, 2004. -- Created 1982 Ky. Acts ch. 445, sec. 5, effective July 1, 1982. Legislative Research Commission Note. This section was enacted in 1982 Acts, Chapter 445, which contains the following language in Section 45 of that Act: "This Act shall become effective on July 1, 1982." The Ky. Constitution, in Section 55, requires that a reason be set forth for the emergency. However, no reason is set forth in this Act. The effective date for 1982 Acts with no emergency provision is July 15, 1982.