SB 269: Mental Illness; certain procedures and notifications for involuntary outpatient commitments; provide

Under current Georgia law, only a physician or psychologist can determine and certify that someone brought to a mental health facility needs involuntary treatment, including deciding whether that person can be treated as an outpatient instead of being hospitalized. This bill adds a new category of provider, called a 'nurse examiner,' a psychiatric nurse practitioner or clinical nurse specialist approved by the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, who can make these same determinations and certifications. The bill also creates a new process (a new Code section, 37-3-91.1) for community mental health centers evaluating someone outside of a hospital setting, spelling out how a referring facility must prepare a treatment plan, arrange interim outpatient care with a receiving facility, and give the patient written notice of appointment details and consequences of noncompliance. It updates related deadlines and hearing procedures to include nurse examiners and the new section. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it or it otherwise becomes law.

• Creates a new 'nurse examiner' category, psychiatric nurse practitioners or clinical nurse specialists approved by the state, who can certify patients as needing involuntary mental health treatment.
• Lets a nurse examiner discharge a patient who qualifies for outpatient treatment instead of hospitalization, after getting a physician's concurrence.
• Adds a new Code section (37-3-91.1) laying out how community mental health centers must handle referrals, treatment plans, and outpatient arrangements for patients examined outside a hospital.
• Requires referring facilities to give patients written notice of appointment times, locations, and the consequences of missing treatment or a hearing.
• Requires receiving facilities to give patients a written copy of their individualized treatment plan and written notice of consequences for not following it.
• Updates hearing and petition deadlines in several existing Code sections to include nurse examiners and the new outpatient certification process.

Psychiatric nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists, physicians and psychologists who work at emergency receiving, evaluating, and treatment facilities, community mental health centers, patients undergoing involuntary mental health evaluation, and their legal representatives and families who receive required notices.

Adding nurse examiners could speed up certification decisions in facilities that might not always have a physician or psychologist immediately available, potentially shortening how long a patient waits before being placed in outpatient treatment. The new written notice rules also give patients clearer information about appointments and consequences.

• Section 1 adds a definition of 'nurse examiner' to O.C.G.A. § 37-3-1, requiring state approval to conduct certain mental health examinations and certifications.
• Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 37-3-90 to let nurse examiners, alongside physicians and psychologists, determine and certify whether a patient is a mentally ill person requiring involuntary treatment.
• Section 4 revises O.C.G.A. § 37-3-91 to add nurse examiners to the discharge process and creates new written notification requirements for referring and receiving facilities.
• Section 5 adds new Code Section 37-3-91.1, creating a detailed referral, treatment-planning, and notice process specifically for community mental health centers evaluating patients outside a facility.
• Section 6 updates O.C.G.A. § 37-3-92 to reference the new petition deadline under the added Code section for scheduling full and fair hearings.
• Section 7 amends O.C.G.A. § 37-3-93 to include nurse examiners among those who can prepare reports and petition for extended outpatient treatment.
• Section 8 sets the effective date as the date the Governor signs the bill or it otherwise becomes law without signature.

1. 2025-02-27Senate Read and Referred (Senado)
2. 2025-02-26Senate Hopper (Senado)

• Bo Hatchett (R, SD-050)Patrocinador principal
• Ben Watson (R, SD-001)
• Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-032)

• mental health law
• involuntary commitment
• nursing scope of practice
• psychiatric care
• community mental health centers