Idaho Severe Mental Illness Information, Laws, & Helpful Resources

IDAHO CODE § 66-326 (1) No person shall be taken into custody or detained as an alleged emergency patient for observation, diagnosis, evaluation, care or treatment of mental illness unless and until the court has ordered such apprehension and custody under the provisions outlined in section 66-329, Idaho Code; provided, however, that a person may be taken into custody by a peace officer and placed in a facility, or the person may be detained at a hospital at which the person presented or was brought to receive medical or mental health care, if the peace officer or a physician medical staff member of such hospital or a physician’s assistant or advanced practice registered nurse practicing in such hospital has reason to believe that the person is gravely disabled due to mental illness or the person’s continued liberty poses an imminent danger to that person or others, as evidenced by a threat of substantial physical harm; provided, under no circumstances shall the proposed patient be detained in a nonmedical unit used for the detention of individuals charged with or convicted of penal offenses. For purposes of this section, the term “peace officer” shall include state probation and parole officers exercising their authority to supervise probationers and parolees. Whenever a person is taken into custody or detained under this section without court order, the evidence supporting the claim of grave disability due to mental illness or imminent danger must be presented to a duly authorized court within twenty-four (24) hours from the time the individual was placed in custody or detained. (2) If the court finds the individual to be gravely disabled due to mental illness or imminently dangerous under subsection (1) of this section, the court shall issue a temporary custody order requiring the person to be held in a facility, and requiring an examination of the person by a designated examiner within twenty-four (24) hours of the entry of the order of the court. Under no circumstances shall the proposed patient be detained in a nonmedical unit used for the detention of individuals charged with or convicted of penal offenses.

IDAHO CODE § 66-329(1). Proceedings for the involuntary care and treatment of mentally ill persons by the department of health and welfare may be commenced by the filing of a written application with a court of competent jurisdiction by a friend, relative, spouse or guardian of the proposed patient, or by a licensed physician, prosecuting attorney, or other public official of a municipality, county or of the state of Idaho, or the director of any facility in which such patient may be. IDAHO CODE § 66-329(11). If, upon completion of the hearing and consideration of the record, and after consideration of reasonable alternatives including, but not limited to, holding the proceedings in abeyance for a period of up to thirty (30) days, the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the proposed patient: a. Is mentally ill; and b. Is, because of such condition, likely to injure himself or others, or is gravely disabled due to mental illness; the court shall order the proposed patient committed to the custody of the department director for observation, care, and treatment for an indeterminate period of time not to exceed one (1) year. The department director, through his dispositioner, shall determine within twenty-four (24) hours the least restrictive available facility or outpatient treatment, consistent with the needs of each patient committed under this section for observation, care, and treatment. IDAHO CODE § 66-317(11). "Mentally ill" means a person, who as a result of a substantial disorder of thought, mood, perception, orientation, or memory, which grossly impairs judgment, behavior, capacity to recognize and adapt to reality, requires care and treatment at a facility or through outpatient treatment. IDAHO CODE § 66-317(10). "Likely to injure himself or others" means: (a) A substantial risk that physical harm will be inflicted by the proposed patient upon his own person, as evidenced by threats or attempts to commit suicide or inflict physical harm on himself; or (b) A substantial risk that physical harm will be inflicted by the proposed patient upon another as evidenced by behavior that has caused such harm or that places another person or persons in reasonable fear of sustaining such harm; or (c) The proposed patient lacks insight into his need for treatment and is unable or unwilling to comply with treatment and, based on his psychiatric history, clinical observation or other clinical evidence, if he does not receive and comply with treatment, there is a substantial risk he will continue to physically, emotionally or mentally deteriorate to the point that he will, in the reasonably near future, inflict physical harm on himself or another person. IDAHO CODE § 66-317(12). "Gravely disabled" means the condition of a person who, as the result of mental illness, has demonstrated an inability to: (a) Attend to basic physical needs, such as medical care, food, clothing, shelter, or safety; (b) Protect himself from harm or victimization by others; (c) Exercise sufficient behavioral control to avoid serious criminal justice involvement; or (d) Recognize that he is experiencing symptoms of a serious mental illness and lacks the insight into his need for treatment, whereby the subsequent absence of treatment may result in deterioration of his condition such that any of the circumstances listed in this subsection may be satisfied in the near future. IDAHO CODE § 66-329(13). Nothing in this chapter or in any rule adopted pursuant thereto shall be construed to authorize the detention or involuntary admission to a hospital or other facility of an individual who: (a) Has a neurological disorder, a neurocognitive disorder, a developmental disability as defined in section 66-402, Idaho Code, a physical disability, or any medical disorder that includes psychiatric symptomology or is primarily impaired by substance use, unless in addition to such condition, such person is mentally ill; (b) Is a patient under treatment by spiritual means alone, through prayer, in accordance with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious denomination by a duly accredited practitioner thereof and who asserts to any authority attempting to detain him that he is under such treatment and who gives the name of a practitioner so treating him to such authority; or (c) Can be cared for privately with the help of willing and able family or friends in such a way as to no longer present substantial risk to himself or others, provided that such person may be detained or involuntarily admitted if such person is mentally ill and presents a substantial risk of injury to himself or others if such care is not adequate.

IDAHO CODE § 66-317(14). “Outpatient treatment” means mental health treatment, not involving the continuous supervision of a person in an inpatient setting, that is reasonably designed to alleviate or to reduce a person’s mental illness or to maintain or prevent deterioration of the person’s physical, mental, or emotional functioning. Mental health services or treatment may include, but need not be limited to, taking prescribed medication, reporting to a facility to permit monitoring of the person’s condition, or participating in individual or group therapy.