Sadly, due to mental illness such as depression or schizophrenia, a person may become dangerous to himself or to others. In an emergency situation, police officers may take the person into custody and a judge may then order that the person be confined in a mental hospital for a short period of time pending a commitment hearing.  The process may also begin if the County Attorney files a petition to have the person institutionalized.  The County Court Law has the authority to hear these mental commitment cases.

When the petition is filed, the County Court Law judge will appoint an attorney to represent the person and will order doctors to determine if the person is mentally ill and whether he is a danger to himself or to others.  These reports are then forwarded to the court, the County Attorney and the person’s attorney.

Within a few weeks after the person is hospitalized and/or the petition is filed, the County Court Law will have a hearing to decide whether that person should be involuntarily confined to a psychiatric facility, usually a state hospital.  If the court finds the person is mentally ill and is a danger to himself or others, the court may order that the person receive inpatient treatment for up to 90 days.  In more severe cases the court may order inpatient treatment for up to 1 year.

Bill has handled hundreds of these cases, both as a prosecutor and as an attorney for patients.  He has also been appointed as a special county court at law judge to conduct these hearings.  Bill has authored papers on subject of mental health commitments and has instructed judges, prosecutors and defense attorney’s statewide on issues involved in the commitment process.