A. Upon petition by the department, the court may issue an order authorizing the provision of involuntary protective services or protective placement on an emergency basis to an adult under the criteria set forth in Subsection B of this section.

B. At the time a petition is filed or any time thereafter, the court may issue an ex-parte order authorizing the provision of involuntary protective services or involuntary protective placement upon a sworn written statement of facts showing probable cause exists to believe that:

(1) the adult is incapacitated;

(2) an emergency exists;

(3) the adult lacks the ability to consent to receive protective services or protective placement; and

(4) no person authorized by law or court order to give consent for the adult is available or willing to consent to the provision of protective services or protective placement on an emergency basis.

C. The petition for an emergency ex-parte order shall set forth:

(1) the name, address and interest of the petitioner;

(2) the name, age and address of the adult in need of protective services;

(3) the facts describing the nature of the emergency;

(4) the facts describing the nature of the adult's incapacity;

(5) the proposed protective services or protective placement;

(6) the petitioner's reasonable belief, together with supporting facts, about the need for emergency intervention; and

(7) the facts showing the petitioner's attempts to obtain the adult's consent to the proposed protective services or protective placement and the outcome of those attempts.

D. An affidavit for an ex-parte order for emergency protective services or emergency protective placement may be signed by any person who has knowledge of the facts alleged or is informed of them and believes that they are true.

E. The Rules of Evidence do not apply to the issuance of an emergency ex-parte protective services or protective placement order.

F. In issuing an emergency ex-parte order, the court shall adhere to the following limitations:

(1) only the protective services or protective placement necessary to remove the conditions creating the emergency shall be ordered, and the order shall specifically designate the proposed protective services or protective placement;

(2) protective services or protective placement authorized by an emergency ex-parte order shall not include hospitalization or a change of residence, unless the order gives specific approval for the action;

(3) protective services or protective placement may be provided by emergency ex-parte order only for ten days; provided that the original order may be renewed once for a period of twenty additional days upon application to the court showing that continuation of the original order is necessary to remove the conditions creating the emergency. An application for renewal of the original order shall be supported by a written report of the results of the evaluation required by Subsection C of Section 27-7-27 NMSA 1978 and copies of the actual evaluations;

(4) the issuance of an emergency ex-parte order shall not deprive the adult of any rights except those provided for in the order;

(5) to implement an emergency ex-parte order, the court may authorize forcible entry of premises for the purposes of rendering protective services or protective placement or transporting the adult to another location for the provision of services or placement only if facts contained in the affidavit supporting the petition for ex-parte order show that attempts to gain voluntary access to the premises have failed and forcible entry is necessary; provided that persons making an authorized forcible entry shall be accompanied by a law enforcement officer; and

(6) service of an ex-parte order authorizing forcible entry shall be according to the following procedure. The order shall be served on the alleged incapacitated adult by a person authorized to serve arrest warrants and shall direct the officer to advise the adult of the nature of the protective services or protective placement that have been ordered by the court. If the order authorizes emergency protective placement, the order shall direct the officer to assist in transfer of the adult to a place designated by the court.

G. Notice of the filing of the petition and the issuance of the emergency ex-parte order, including a copy of the petition, the ex-parte order and the affidavit for ex-parte order, shall be given to the adult and the adult's spouse or, if none, the adult children or next of kin, surrogate or guardian, if any. The notice shall be given, in language reasonably understandable by its intended recipients, within twenty-four hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, from the time that the ex-parte order authorizing protective services or protective placement is issued by the court or, if the ex-parte order authorizes forcible entry, from the time the ex-parte order is served upon the incapacitated adult. The notice shall inform the recipients that a hearing will be held no later than ten days after the date the petition is filed to determine whether the conditions creating the emergency have been removed and whether the adult should be released from the court's order for protective services or protective placement.

H. Within ten days from the filing of a petition for an emergency order for protective services or protective placement, the court shall hold a hearing upon any application for renewal of the emergency order. The hearing upon an application for renewal shall be held pursuant to the provisions of Section 27-7-27 NMSA 1978.

I. The protected adult or any interested person may petition the court to have the emergency order set aside or modified at any time, notwithstanding any prior findings by the court that the adult is incapacitated.

J. If the adult continues to need protective services or protective placement after the renewal order provided in Paragraph (3) of Subsection F of this section has expired, the department or original petitioner shall immediately petition the court to appoint a conservator or guardian or to order nonemergency protective services or protective placement pursuant to Section 27-7-26 NMSA 1978.

K. The petitioner shall not be liable for filing the petition if the petitioner acted in good faith.

History: 1978 Comp., § 27-7-25, enacted by Laws 1990, ch. 79, § 6; 1997, ch. 132, § 10; 2007, ch. 91, § 8.

Repeals and reenactments. — Laws 1990, ch. 79, § 6 repealed former 27-7-25 NMSA 1978, as enacted by Laws 1989, ch. 389, § 12, effective March 2, 1989.

Cross references. — For Rules of Evidence, see Rule 11-101 NMRA et seq.

For applicability of the Rules of Evidence, see 1-1101 NMRA and the compiler's annotations following 11-1101 NMRA.

For motion for ex-parte custody order, see 10-450 NMRA.

For affidavit for ex-parte custody order, see 10-451 NMRA.

The 2007 amendment, effective July 2, 2007, prescribed the content of a petition for an emergency ex-parte order.

The 1997 amendment, effective June 20, 1997, in Paragraph E(5), added Subparagraph (a), designated the former provisions as Subparagraph (b), and added Subparagraphs (c) through (e).