51.67 Alternate procedure; protective services. If, after a hearing under s. 51.13 (4) or 51.20, the court finds that commitment under this chapter is not warranted and that the subject individual is a fit subject for guardianship and protective placement or services, the court may, without further notice, appoint a temporary guardian for the subject individual and order temporary protective placement or services under ch. 55 for a period not to exceed 30 days. Temporary protective placement for an individual in a center for the developmentally disabled is subject to s. 51.06 (3). Any interested party may then file a petition for permanent guardianship or protective placement or services, including medication, under ch. 55. If the individual is in a treatment facility, the individual may remain in the facility during the period of temporary protective placement if no other appropriate facility is available. The court may order psychotropic medication as a temporary protective service under this section if it finds that there is probable cause to believe the individual is not competent to refuse psychotropic medication and that the medication ordered will have therapeutic value and will not unreasonably impair the ability of the individual to prepare for and participate in subsequent legal proceedings. An individual is not competent to refuse psychotropic medication if, because of serious and persistent mental illness, and after the advantages and disadvantages of and alternatives to accepting the particular psychotropic medication have been explained to the individual, one of the following is true:

(1) The individual is incapable of expressing an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of accepting treatment and the alternatives.

(2) The individual is substantially incapable of applying an understanding of the advantages, disadvantages and alternatives to his or her serious and persistent mental illness in order to make an informed choice as to whether to accept or refuse psychotropic medication.

History: 1975 c. 430; 1977 c. 187, 428; 1979 c. 89, 336; 1985 a. 29; 1987 a. 366; 1995 a. 268; 2003 a. 33; 2005 a. 264.