A person confined in a state institution or a person confined in a state or private mental health or intellectual disability facility may be transferred to another mental health or intellectual disability facility if:

(1) the director of a state institution not under the jurisdiction of the Department of Mental Health requests the admission of a person confined there to a state mental health facility if the person is suspected of having a mental illness. If after full examination by two designated examiners, one of whom must be a licensed physician, the director of the mental health facility is of the opinion that the person has a mental illness, the director shall notify the director of the institution or the facility to which the person was admitted who shall commence proceedings pursuant to Sections 44-17-510 through 44-17-610;

(2) the director of a facility in which the patient resides determines that it would be consistent with the medical needs of the person, the Department of Mental Health may transfer or authorize the transfer of the patient from one facility to another. If the transfer is from a less restricted facility to a substantially more secure facility and the patient objects to the transfer, a hearing to give the patient a reasonable opportunity to contest the transfer must be held pursuant to Sections 44-17-540 through 44-17-570. When a patient is transferred, written notice must be given to the patient's legal guardian, attorney, parents, or spouse or, if none be known, to the patient's nearest known relative or friend. This section may not be construed to apply to transfers of a patient within a mental health facility; or

(3) the legal guardian, parent, spouse, relative, or friend of an involuntary patient submits a request for the transfer of the patient from one Department of Mental Health facility to another and the reasons for desiring the transfer and unless the Department of Mental Health reasonably determines that it would be inconsistent with the medical needs of the person, the transfer must be made. If the transfer is from a less restricted to a substantially more secure facility, item (2) governs.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 32-974; 1974 (58) 2642; 1977 Act No. 99 Section 15; 1993 Act No. 34, Section 1; 1993 Act No. 181, Section 1084; 2008 Act No. 266, Section 8, eff June 4, 2008; 2011 Act No. 47, Section 5, eff June 7, 2011.