North Dakota Severe Mental Illness Resources & Helpful Info

N.D. CENT. CODE § 25-03.1-25. 1. When a peace officer, physician either in person or directing an emergency medical services professional, psychiatrist, physician assistant, psychologist, advanced practice registered nurse, or mental health professional has reasonable cause to believe that an individual is a person requiring treatment and there exists a serious risk of harm to that individual, others, or property of an immediate nature that considerations of safety do not allow preliminary intervention by a magistrate, the peace officer, physician either in person or directing an emergency medical services professional, psychiatrist, physician assistant, psychologist, advanced practice registered nurse, or mental health professional, using the screening process set forth in section 25-03.1-04, may cause the individual to be taken into custody and detained at a treatment facility as provided in subsection 3, and subject to section 25-03.1-26, except that if emergency conditions exist that prevent the immediate conveyance of the individual to a public treatment facility, a private facility that has adequate resources and capacity to hold that individual may hold the individual in anticipation of conveyance to a public treatment facility for up to twenty-three hours: a. Without conducting an immediate examination required under section 25-03.1-26; and b. Without following notice and hearing requirements for a transfer to another treatment facility required under subsection 3 of section 25-03.1-34. 2. If a petitioner seeking the involuntary treatment of a respondent requests that the respondent be taken into immediate custody and the magistrate, upon reviewing the petition and accompanying documentation, finds probable cause to believe that the respondent is a person requiring treatment and there exists a serious risk of harm to the respondent, others, or property if allowed to remain at liberty, the magistrate may enter a written order directing that the respondent be taken into immediate custody and be detained as provided in subsection 3 until the preliminary or treatment hearing, which must be held no more than seven days after the date of the order. 3. Detention under this section may be: a. In a treatment facility where the director or superintendent must be informed of the reasons why immediate custody has been ordered. The facility may provide treatment that is necessary to preserve the respondent’s life or to appropriately control behavior by the respondent which is likely to result in physical injury to self or to others if allowed to continue, but may not otherwise provide treatment to the respondent without the respondent’s consent; or b. In a public or private facility in the community which is suitably equipped and staffed for the purpose. Detention in a jail or other correctional facility may not be ordered except in cases of actual emergency when no other secure facility is accessible, and then only for a period of not more than twenty-four hours and under close supervision. 4. Immediately upon being taken into custody, the individual must be advised of the purpose of custody, of the intended uses and possible effects of any evaluation that the individual undergoes, and of the individual’s rights to counsel and to a preliminary or treatment hearing. 5. Upon arrival at a facility the peace officer, physician, physician assistant, psychiatrist, psychologist, advanced practice registered nurse, or mental health professional who conveyed the individual or who caused the individual to be conveyed shall complete an application for evaluation and shall deliver a detailed written report from the peace officer, physician, physician assistant, psychiatrist, psychologist, advanced practice registered nurse, or the mental health professional who caused the individual to be conveyed. The written report must state the circumstances under which the individual was taken into custody. The report must allege in detail the overt act that constituted the basis for the beliefs that the individual is a person requiring treatment and that, because of that individual’s condition, there exists a serious risk of harm to that individual, others, or property if the individual is not immediately detained. 6. A peace officer maintains the peace officer’s power of arrest, detention, and transport, throughout the entire state during a transport or detention in accordance with this section.

N.D. CENT. CODE § 25-03.1-08. 1. An individual eighteen years of age or over shall present, in good faith, the information necessary for the commitment of an individual for involuntary treatment to the state’s attorney of the county in which the respondent is presently located, or which is the respondent’s place of residence, or to an attorney retained by the petitioner to represent the petitioner throughout the proceedings. The attorney shall assist the petitioner in completing the petition. The petition must be verified by affidavit of the petitioner and contain assertions that the respondent is a person requiring the treatment; the facts, in detail, that are the basis of that assertion; the names, telephone numbers, and addresses, if known, of any witnesses to those facts; and, if known, the name, telephone number, and address of the nearest relative or guardian of the respondent, or, if none, of a friend of the respondent. 2. The petition may be accompanied by any of the following: a. A written statement supporting the petition from a tier 1 mental health professional or an addiction counselor who is practicing within the professional scope of practice and who has personally examined the respondent within forty-five days of the date of the petition. b. One or more supporting affidavits otherwise corroborating the petition. 3. In assisting the petitioner in completing the petition, the state’s attorney may direct a tier 1 or tier 2 mental health professional designated by the regional human service center to investigate and evaluate the specific facts alleged by the petitioner. The investigation must be completed as promptly as possible and include observations of and conversation with the respondent, unless the respondent cannot be found or refuses to meet with the mental health professional. A written report of the results of the investigation must be delivered to the state’s attorney. Copies of the report must be made available upon request to the respondent, the respondent’s counsel, and any expert examiner conducting an examination under section 25-03.1-11. The state’s attorney or retained attorney shall file the petition if the information provided by the petitioner or gathered by investigation provides probable cause to believe the subject of the petition is a person requiring treatment. A state’s attorney who determines there are insufficient grounds for filing a petition may refer the individual to other community resources. A state’s attorney’s decision not to institute proceedings may be reviewed under section 11-16-06. N.D. CENT. CODE § 25-03.1-07. An individual may be involuntarily admitted under this chapter to the state hospital or another treatment facility only if it is determined that the individual is a person requiring treatment. N.D. CENT. CODE § 25-03.1-02(13). “Person requiring treatment” means a person who is mentally ill or an individual with a substance use disorder, and there is a reasonable expectation that if the individual is not treated for the mental illness or substance use disorder there exists a serious risk of harm to that individual, others, or property. N.D. CENT. CODE § 25-03.1-02(12). “Mentally ill person” or “person who is mentally ill” means an individual with an organic, mental, or emotional disorder that substantially impairs the capacity to use self-control, judgment, and discretion in the conduct of personal affairs and social relations. The term does not include an individual with an intellectual disability of significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning that originates during the developmental period and is associated with impairment in adaptive behavior, although an individual who is intellectually disabled may also be a person who is mentally ill. A substance use disorder does not per se constitute mental illness, although an individual with a substance use disorder may also be a person who is mentally ill. N.D. CENT. CODE § 25-03.1-02(20). “Serious risk of harm” means a substantial likelihood of: a. Suicide, as manifested by suicidal threats, attempts, or significant depression relevant to suicidal potential; b. Killing or inflicting serious bodily harm on another individual or inflicting significant property damage, as manifested by acts or threats; c. Substantial deterioration in physical health, substantial injury, disease, or death, based upon recent poor self-control or judgment in providing one’s shelter, nutrition, or personal care; or d. Substantial deterioration in mental health which would predictably result in danger to that individual, others, or property, based upon: (1) Evidence of objective facts to establish the loss of cognitive or volitional control over the individual’s thoughts or actions; or (2) Acts or threats; patterns in the individual’s treatment history; the individual’s current condition; and other relevant factors, including the effect of the individual’s mental condition on the individual’s ability to consent.