1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, any person involuntarily admitted by a court may be conditionally released from a public or private mental health facility when, in the judgment of the medical director of the facility, the conditional release is in the best interest of the person and will not be detrimental to the public welfare. The medical director of the facility or the medical director’s designee shall prescribe the period for which the conditional release is effective. The period must not extend beyond the last day of the court-ordered period of treatment pursuant to NRS 433A.310. If the person has a legal guardian, the facility shall notify the guardian before discharging the person from the facility. The legal guardian has discretion to determine where the person will be released, taking into consideration any discharge plan proposed by the facility assessment team. If the legal guardian does not inform the facility as to where the person will be released within 3 days after the date of notification, the facility shall discharge the person according to its proposed discharge plan.

2. When a person is conditionally released pursuant to subsection 1, the State or any of its agents or employees are not liable for any debts or contractual obligations, medical or otherwise, incurred or damages caused by the actions of the person.

3. When a person who has been adjudicated by a court to be incapacitated is conditionally released from a mental health facility, the administrative officer of the mental health facility shall petition the court for restoration of full civil and legal rights as deemed necessary to facilitate the incapacitated person’s rehabilitation. If the person has a legal guardian, the petition must be filed with the court having jurisdiction over the guardianship.

4. A person who was involuntarily admitted by a court because he or she was likely to present a substantial likelihood of serious harm to himself or herself or others, as determined pursuant to NRS 433A.0195, may be conditionally released only if, at the time of the release, written notice is given to the court which admitted him or her, to the person’s legal guardian and to the district attorney of the county in which the proceedings for admission were held.

5. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 7, the administrative officer of a public or private mental health facility or the administrative officer’s designee shall order a person who is conditionally released from that facility pursuant to this section to return to the facility if a psychiatrist and a member of that person’s treatment team who is professionally qualified in the field of psychiatric mental health determine that the conditional release is no longer appropriate because that person presents a substantial likelihood of serious harm to himself or herself or others, as determined pursuant to NRS 433A.0195. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the administrative officer or the designee shall, at least 3 days before the issuance of the order to return, give written notice of the order to the court that admitted the person to the facility and to the person’s legal guardian. If an emergency exists in which the person presents a substantial likelihood of harm to himself or herself or others, as determined pursuant to NRS 433A.0195, the order must be submitted to the court and the legal guardian not later than 1 business day after the order is issued.

6. The court shall review an order submitted pursuant to subsection 5 and the current condition of the person who was ordered to return to the facility at its next regularly scheduled hearing for the review of petitions for involuntary court-ordered admissions, but in no event later than 5 judicial days after the person is returned to the facility. The administrative officer or the administrative officer’s designee shall give written notice to the person who was ordered to return to the facility, to the person’s legal guardian and to the person’s attorney, if known, of the time, date and place of the hearing and of the facts necessitating that person’s return to the facility.

7. The provisions of subsection 5 do not apply if the period of conditional release has expired.

(Added to NRS by 1975, 1608; A 1981, 1661; 1999, 867; 2009, 1667; 2019, 363)