59-2968. Admissions to a state psychiatric hospital; moratorium; procedure. (a) All admissions to a state psychiatric hospital upon any order of a court shall be to the state psychiatric hospital designated by the secretary for aging and disability services. The time and manner of the admission shall be arranged by the participating mental health center authorizing such admission and coordinated with the hospital and the official or agent who shall transport the person.

(b) No patient shall be admitted to a state psychiatric hospital pursuant to any of the provisions of this act, including any court-ordered admissions, if the secretary has notified the supreme court of the state of Kansas and each district court which has jurisdiction over all or part of the catchment area served by a state psychiatric hospital, that the census of a particular treatment program of that state psychiatric hospital has reached capacity and that no more patients may be admitted. Following notification that a state psychiatric hospital program has reached its capacity and no more patients may be admitted, any district court which has jurisdiction over all or part of the catchment area served by that state psychiatric hospital, and any participating mental health center which serves all or part of that same catchment area, may request that patients needing that treatment program be placed on a waiting list maintained by that state psychiatric hospital.

(c) In each such case, as a vacancy at that state psychiatric hospital occurs, the district court and participating mental health center shall be notified, in the order of their previous requests for placing a patient on the waiting list, that a patient may be admitted to the state psychiatric hospital. As soon as the state psychiatric hospital is able to admit patients on a regular basis to a treatment program for which notice has been previously given under this section, the superintendent of the state psychiatric hospital shall inform the supreme court and each affected district court that the moratorium on admissions is no longer in effect.

History: L. 1996, ch. 167, § 24; L. 2014, ch. 115, § 210; July 1.