The name of any person who has escaped from any institution for persons with psychiatric disabilities and has not been returned to such institution within one year thereafter shall be stricken from the records of such institution and such person shall not thereafter be returned to such institution except (1) upon further commitment by some court of competent jurisdiction, or (2) in the case of an acquittee committed to the jurisdiction of the Psychiatric Security Review Board pursuant to section 17a-582, by order of the Psychiatric Security Review Board. Upon such further commitment, the state or local police department shall, on the request of the authorities of any such institution, assist in the rehospitalization of such patient if, in the opinion of such authorities, the patient's condition warrants such assistance. The expense, if any, of such return shall be paid by the patient or the patient's legally liable relatives or, if none, by the state, but the expense provision herein contained shall not be construed to apply against a rehospitalized patient when criminal proceedings are pending against the patient.

(1949 Rev., S. 2658; 1967, P.A. 555, S. 71; P.A. 73-453; P.A. 90-209, S. 19; P.A. 95-257, S. 48, 58; P.A. 06-91, S. 1.)

History: 1967 act added “or drug dependent”; P.A. 73-453 added provisions re police assistance for rehospitalization of escaped patient and assessment of expense of return; P.A. 90-209 deleted reference to institutions for drug-dependent persons; Sec. 17-199 transferred to Sec. 17a-522 in 1991; P.A. 95-257 replaced “the mentally ill” with “persons with psychiatric disabilities”, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 06-91 designated existing provision re court's authority to recommit an escaped person with a psychiatric disability as Subdiv. (1), added Subdiv. (2) re Psychiatric Security Review Board's authority to recommit an acquittee under said board's jurisdiction and made technical changes.

Annotation to former section 17-199:

After a person's name is stricken from the records, he is no longer subject to legal confinement and future periods cannot be calculated in the 5 years of incurable mental illness prerequisite to divorce. 16 CS 129.