Oregon Severe Mental Illness Information, Laws, & Helpful Resources

OR. REV. STAT. § 426.228(1). A peace officer may take into custody a person who the officer has probable cause to believe [meets the criteria for emergency evaluation]. OR. REV. STAT. § 426.233(1)(b). [If a person is found to meet criteria for emergency evaluation, t]he community mental health program director or designee … may: (A) Notify a peace officer to take the person into custody and direct the officer to remove the person to a hospital or nonhospital facility approved by the Oregon Health Authority; (B) Authorize involuntary admission of, or, if already admitted, cause to be involuntarily retained in a nonhospital facility approved by the authority, a person approved for care or treatment at a nonhospital facility by a physician[;] (C) Notify an [authorized individual] to take the person into custody and direct the authorized individual to remove the person in custody to a hospital or nonhospital facility approved by the authority; (D) Direct an [authorized individual] to transport a person in custody from a hospital or a nonhospital facility approved by the authority to another hospital or nonhospital facility approved by the authority[;] or (E) Direct an [authorized individual] to transport a person in custody from a facility approved by the authority to another facility approved by the authority[.] OR. REV. STAT. § 426.232(1). If a licensed independent practitioner … believes a person who is at a hospital or nonhospital facility, is dangerous to self or to any other person and is in need of emergency care or treatment for mental illness, and the licensed independent practitioner is not related to the person by blood or marriage, the licensed independent practitioner may do one of the following: (a) Detain the person and cause the person to be admitted or, if the person is already admitted, cause the person to be retained in a hospital where the licensed independent practitioner has admitting privileges or is on staff. (b) Approve the person for emergency care or treatment at a nonhospital facility approved by the authority. OR. REV. STAT. § 426.228(1). A peace officer may take into custody a person who the officer has probable cause to believe is dangerous to self or to any other person and is in need of immediate care, custody or treatment for mental illness. OR. REV. STAT. § 426.233(1)(a). A community mental health program director … or a designee of the director may [seek emergency evaluation] when the community mental health program director or designee has probable cause to believe a person: (A) Is dangerous to self or to any other person and is in need of immediate care, custody or treatment for mental illness; or (B) (i) Is a person with mental illness placed on conditional release …, outpatient commitment … or trial visit[;] and (ii) Is dangerous to self or to any other person or is unable to provide for basic personal needs and is not receiving the care that is necessary for health and safety and is in need of immediate care, custody or treatment for mental illness.

OR. REV. STAT. § 426.070(1). Any of the following may initiate commitment procedures: (a) Two persons; (b) The county health officer; or (c) Any magistrate or judge of a court of a federally recognized Indian tribe located in this state. OR. REV. STAT. § 426.005(1)(f). "Person with mental illness" means a person who, because of a mental disorder, is one or more of the following: (A) Dangerous to self or others. (B) Unable to provide for basic personal needs that are necessary to avoid serious physical harm in the near future, and is not receiving such care as is necessary to avoid such harm. (C) A person: (i) With a chronic mental illness[;] (ii) Who, within the previous three years, has twice been placed in a hospital or approved inpatient facility by the [Oregon Health Authority] or the Department of Human Services[;] (iii) Who is exhibiting symptoms or behavior substantially similar to those that preceded and led to one or more of the hospitalizations or inpatient placements referred to in sub- subparagraph (ii) of this subparagraph; and (iv) Who, unless treated, will continue, to a reasonable medical probability, to physically or mentally deteriorate so that the person will become a person described under either or both subparagraph (A) or (B) of this paragraph or both.

OR. REV. STAT. § 426.133(2). A court may issue an order requiring a person to participate in assisted outpatient treatment if the court finds that the person: (a) (A) Is 18 years of age or older; (B) Has a mental disorder; (C) Will not obtain treatment in the community voluntarily; and (D) Is unable to make an informed decision to seek or to comply with voluntary treatment; and (b) As a result of being a person described in paragraph (a) of this subsection: (A) Is incapable of surviving safely in the community without treatment; and (B) Requires treatment to prevent a deterioration in the person’s condition that will predictably result in the person becoming a person with mental illness. OR. REV. STAT. § 426.133(3). In determining whether to issue the order under subsection (2) of this section, the court shall consider, but is not limited to considering, the following factors: (a) The person’s ability to access finances in order to get food or medicine. (b) The person’s ability to obtain treatment for the person’s medical condition. (c) The person’s ability to access necessary resources in the community without assistance. (d) The degree to which there are risks to the person’s safety. (e) The likelihood that the person will decompensate without immediate care or treatment. (f) The person’s previous attempts to inflict physical injury on self or others. (g) The person’s history of mental health treatment in the community. (h) The person’s patterns of decompensation in the past. (i) The person’s risk of being victimized or harmed by others. (j) The person’s access to the means to inflict harm on self or others.