NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1963 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 1166

SENATE BILL 182

 

 

AN ACT TO CREATE A STATE DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH; TO PRESCRIBE THE POWERS AND DUTIES THEREOF; AND, TO PROVIDE FOR THE TRANSFER TO SAID DEPARTMENT OF THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE STATE HOSPITALS BOARD OF CONTROL, AND THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH OVER THE OPERATION OF MENTAL HEALTH CLINICS, AND THE AUTHORITY OF THE STATE BOARD OF PUBLIC WELFARE OVER THE LICENSING OF PRIVATE MENTAL HOSPITALS AND INSTITUTIONS.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

 

Section 1.  G.S. 122-7, 122-8, 122-11.1, 122-11.2, 122-11.3, 122-11.7, 122-11.8, 130-27, 130-28 and 130-29 are hereby repealed.

Sec. 2.  G.S. 122-1 is hereby redesignated as G.S. 122-7; G.S. 122-1.1 is hereby redesignated as G.S. 122-8.1; G.S. 122-1.2 is hereby redesignated as G.S. 122-8.2; G.S. 122‑35.1 is hereby redesignated as G.S. 122-36; and G.S. 122-36 is hereby redesignated as G.S. 122-36.1.

Sec. 3.  Article 1 of Chapter 122 of the General Statutes of North Carolina is hereby amended by adding at the beginning thereof the following:

"G.S. 122-1.  Creation of State Department of Mental Health. There is hereby created a department of State government to be known as the State Department of Mental Health. The State Department of Mental Health is to have jurisdiction over all of the State's mental hospitals, all of the State's residential centers for the mentally retarded, and joint State and community sponsored mental health clinics. The Department is to have authority and responsibility over all phases of mental health in North Carolina to the extent provided in this Act including that heretofore vested by law in the State Hospitals Board of Control and in all other State agencies with respect to mental health. Any proceedings pending, on the effective date of this Act, before the Hospitals Board of Control, or the State Board of Health regarding mental health clinics, or the State Board of Public Welfare regarding the licensing of privately operated mental hospitals or institutions, shall not be abated but shall be automatically transferred to the State Department of Mental Health and shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the law governing such proceedings. All unexpended appropriations made to the State Board of Health for the operation of mental health clinics are hereby transferred to the Department of Mental Health. All records, files, and other papers belonging to the State Hospitals Board of Control, the State Board of Health regarding mental health clinics and the State Board of Public Welfare relating to the licensing of privately operated hospitals and institutions, shall be continued as a part of the records and files of the Department of Mental Health.

G.S. 122-1.1.  Creation of State Board of Mental Health; Powers and Duties. There is hereby created a policy-making body within and for the State Department of Mental Health which shall be known as the State Board of Mental Health. The State Board of Mental Health shall consist of fifteen members appointed by the Governor. In order that all sections of the State shall have representation on said Board, the Governor shall name one member from each congressional district of the State and the remaining members at large. The initial members of the State Board of Mental Health shall be the persons serving on the State Hospitals Board of Control immediately prior to the time this Act becomes effective. The initial members shall serve for the duration of the terms to which they were appointed to the Hospitals Board of Control. Upon the expiration of their terms, the members of the State Board of Mental Health shall be appointed as follows: the appointments to fill the three vacancies occurring in 1963 shall be for a term of four (4) years; the appointments to fill two of the three vacancies occurring in 1964 shall be for a term of three (3) years, and the appointment to fill one of the vacancies occurring in 1964 shall be for a term of five (5) years; the appointments to fill four of the six vacancies occurring in 1965 shall be for a term of four (4) years, and the appointments to fill two of the six vacancies occurring in 1965 shall be for a term of six (6) years; and, the appointments to fill the three vacancies occurring in 1966 shall be for a term of five (5) years. Thereafter all appointments shall be for a term of six (6) years. At least two of the members shall be persons duly licensed to practice medicine in North Carolina.

Members of the State Board of Mental Health shall serve for terms as prescribed above and until their successors are appointed and qualified. The Governor shall have the power to remove any member of the Board from office for misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance. All vacancies occurring for any reason other than the expiration of a member's term are to be filled by appointment of the Governor for the unexpired term.

The Board is authorized to meet and organize and shall, from their number, select a chairman and one or more vice chairmen. The Board may also elect a secretary who may or may not be a member of the Board.

The Board shall determine policies and adopt necessary rules and regulations governing the operation of the State Department of Mental Health and the employment of professional and staff personnel. The State Board of Mental Health, by and with the approval of the Governor, may terminate for cause the services of any employee appointed for a specific length of time. In the event of any such termination, severance pay shall be adjusted by the Governor and the Advisory Budget Commission. In addition, the Board is authorized to establish, subject to the approval of the Director of the Budget and the Advisory Budget Commission, new divisions within the Department.

Members of the Board are to be reimbursed for travel expenses and paid a per diem in accordance with the Biennial Appropriations Act.

G.S. 122-1.2.  Powers and Duties of Department. All the powers and duties vested in the State Hospitals Board of Control immediately prior to the effective date of this Act are hereby transferred and vested in the State Department of Mental Health, to be carried out pursuant to the policies of the State Board of Mental Health. In addition to these transferred powers and duties, and all other powers and duties of the Department as specified in the General Statutes of North Carolina, the Department shall have the following general powers and duties:

(1)        The Department shall cooperate with the State's correctional and penal institutions by providing psychiatric and psychological service for students, inmates, and for inmates scheduled for parole. In addition to the regular full‑time employees of the Department, the Department is authorized to employ part-time professional staff to perform this work. Funds for the payment of these services shall be made available by the respective departments, or, if not available, from those departments, from an allotment by the Governor and the Council of State from the Contingency and Emergency Fund.

(2)        The Department shall cooperate with any local health authorities in augmenting, promoting, and improving local residential programs for the mentally retarded, mentally ill, and inebriate.

(3)        The Department shall cooperate with the State Board of Education, State Department of Public Instruction, the State Board of Health, and the State Commission for the Blind in rehabilitation services for mentally retarded persons through education and training programs.

(4)        The Department shall cooperate with the State Board of Public Welfare and the State Board of Health in their programs of preventive and rehabilitative services through home care and maternal and child health.

(5)        The Department shall sponsor and carry out training and research in the field of mental retardation, mental illness, and inebriety; provided, however, that nothing in this subsection should prohibit any other agency or institution now engaged in such programs from carrying out training and research in the field of mental retardation, mental illness, and inebriety.

(6)        The Department of Mental Health and the local mental health clinics shall cooperate with the Development Evaluation Clinics and the Child Health Supervisory Clinics in their work relating to retarded children.

G.S. 122-1.3.  Commissioners of Mental Health. The State Board of Mental Health shall appoint, with the approval of the Governor, a Commissioner of Mental Health who shall serve for a term of six (6) years and who shall be the chief executive of the State Department of Mental Health. Subject to the supervision, direction and control of the State Board of Mental Health, the Commissioner shall administer the policies, rules and regulations established by the Board. The Commissioner shall be a medical doctor duly licensed in North Carolina with approved training and experience in psychiatry. The salary of the Commissioner shall be fixed by the Governor subject to the approval of the Advisory Budget Commission. The Commission shall devote his full time to the duties of his employment as Commissioner of Mental Health.

The Board shall provide the Commissioner with such stenographic and clerical assistance as it may deem necessary. Upon request of the Board, the Department of Administration shall provide suitable office space in the City of Raleigh for the Commissioner.

G.S. 122-1.4.  Business Manager. The State Board of Mental Health shall appoint a general business manager to be in charge of the Business Administration Division of the Department of Mental Health. The said general business manager shall be a person of demonstrated executive and business ability who shall have had training and experience in fiscal administration and in the management of physical plants, properties and equipment of public institutions or comparable enterprises, and he shall be a person of good character and otherwise qualified to discharge his duties. The salary of the general business manager is to be fixed by the Governor subject to the approval of the Advisory Budget Commission. Subject to the supervision, direction and control of the Board of Mental Health, the general business manager shall perform the duties set out in this Chapter and all other duties which the Board may prescribe. Under the direction of the Board of Mental Health, the general business manager shall have full supervision over the fiscal management, and over the management and control of all physical properties and equipment, of the institutions under the control of the Department of Mental Health.

All personnel or employees engaged in any aspect of the business management or supervision of the properties or equipment of any of the institutions under the control of the Department of Mental Health shall be responsible to and subject to the supervision and direction of the general business manager with respect to the performance or exercise of any duties or powers of business management or financial administration.

The general business manager shall be employed for a period of six (6) years from the time of his selection, unless sooner removed by the Board for incompetence or misconduct. He shall devote his full time to the duties of his employment and shall hold no other office or position of employment.

The Board of Mental Health shall provide the general business manager with such stenographic and clerical assistance as it may deem necessary. Upon request of the Board of Mental Health, the Department of Administration shall provide suitable office space in the City of Raleigh for the general business manager in conjunction with the office space provided for the Commissioner of Mental Health.

G.S. 122-1.5.  Division of the Department of Mental Health. The administration of the Department of Mental Health shall be divided into four divisions: Business Administration, Mental Hospitals, Mental Retardation, and Community Mental Health Services. The Commissioner of Mental Health, with the approval of the State Board of Mental Health, shall appoint a deputy director as head of the Division of Mental Hospitals, a deputy director as head of the Division of Mental Retardation and a deputy director as head of the Division of Community Mental Health Services. The deputy directors of the Divisions of Mental Hospitals and the Divisions of Community Mental Health Services must be medical doctors duly licensed in North Carolina with approved training and experience in psychiatry. The deputy director of the Division of Mental Retardation must be a medical doctor duly licensed in North Carolina with approved training and experience in psychiatry or pediatrics.

G.S. 122-1.6.  Applicability of Executive Budget Act, State Personnel Act, and Merit System Act. The State Department of Mental Health shall be subject to the provisions of the Executive Budget Act and the State Personnel Act, Articles 1 and 2 of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes, respectively. Personnel of the Community Mental Health Services Division of the Department of Mental Health and eligible personnel of those local mental health clinics which choose to participate in the Federal Aid Grant Program shall be subject to the provisions of the Merit System Law, Chapter 126 of the General Statutes of North Carolina."

Sec. 4.  G.S. 122-25 is hereby rewritten to read as follows:

"G.S. 122-25.  Superintendents of State Mental Hospitals and Residential Centers for Retarded. The Commissioner of Mental Health, with the approval of the State Board of Mental Health, shall appoint a medical superintendent for each hospital. The medical superintendent shall be a medical doctor duly licensed in North Carolina with approved training and experience in psychiatry. The appointment shall be for a term of six (6) years. The Commissioner of Mental Health shall also, with the approval of the State Board of Mental Health, appoint for a term of six (6) years a superintendent of each residential center for the retarded. Such superintendent shall be a medical doctor duly licensed by the State of North Carolina with approved training and experience in pediatrics or psychiatry.

The superintendent of each institution under the jurisdiction of the Department of Mental Health shall be responsible for the employment of all medical and rehabilitation personnel, subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Mental Health.

The business manager of each State mental hospital or each residential center for the retarded shall be appointed by the general business manager with the approval of the State Board of Mental Health. The business manager of each institution should be a person of demonstrated executive and business ability who has had training and experience in fiscal administration and in the management of physical plants, properties and equipment of public institutions or comparable enterprises, and who is a person of good character and otherwise qualified to discharge his duties."

Sec. 5.  G.S. 122-28 is hereby rewritten to read as follows:

"G.S. 122-28.  Officers and Employees Not to Accept Outside Compensation; Exceptions. No physician or doctor employed by the Department of Mental Health shall receive any compensation, other than that paid by the State or local community, except when so authorized by the Department of Mental Health."

Sec. 6.  There is hereby added, immediately following Article 2 and before Article 3 of Chapter 122 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, a new Article to be designated as Article 2A and to read as follows:

"ARTICLE 2A. LOCAL MENTAL HEALTH CLINICS.

G.S. 122-35.1.  Designation of State Department of Mental Health as State's Mental Health Authority. The State Department of Mental Health is hereby designated as the State's mental health authority for purposes of administering Federal funds allotted to North Carolina under the pro visions of the National Mental Health Act and similar Federal legislation pertaining to mental health activities. The State Department of Mental Health is further designated as the State agency authorized to administer minimum standards and requirements for mental health clinics as conditions for participation in Federal-State grants-in-aid, and is authorized to promote and develop community mental health outpatient clinics in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter: Provided, that nothing in this Chapter shall be construed to prohibit the operation of outpatient mental health clinics by the State Department of Mental Health at any of the institutions under the control of the State Department of Mental Health, or the operation of an outpatient mental health clinic at the North Carolina Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill or at any other hospital acceptable to the State Department of Mental Health.

It shall be the policy of the State Department of Mental Health to promote the establishment of mental health clinics in those localities which have shown a readiness to contribute to the financial support of such clinics, assisted by Federal and State grants-in-aid to the extent available.

The governing authorities of local governmental units are authorized to appropriate funds for the support or partial support of mental health clinics which serve such localities whether or not the facilities of the clinic are physically located within the boundaries of such cities, towns, or counties, and whether or not such clinics are owned or operated by the local governmental units, and such support or partial support is hereby declared to be a necessary expense within the meaning of Article VII G.S. 7 of the North Carolina Constitution. The funds so appropriated may be included as an appropriation in the General Fund of the local governmental unit, or may, in the case of a county, be included in the special tax levied for the preservation and promotion of the public health.

G.S. 122-35.2.  Community Mental Health Clinics to be Developed by Community Mental Health Services Division. Child-guidance clinics, adult clinics, all-purpose clinics (i.e., clinics serving both children and adults), and after-care treatment clinics, and a State-wide program of mental health education are to be developed and administered by the Community Mental Health Services Division of the Department of Mental Health. This Division is designed to augment, promote, and improve, if necessary, the expansion of already existing services in general hospitals or clinics that help to conserve the mental health of the people of North Carolina. The Division will also encourage, implement, and provide assistance for research into various aspects of mental health by the local clinics.

G.S. 122-35.3.  Joint State and Community Sponsored Mental Health Clinics. The Department of Mental Health is authorized to establish community mental health services within a framework of policies which provide for the joint operation of mental health clinics within local communities which agree to participate financially and otherwise in the program. This is to be a partnership arrangement in which the Department of Mental Health represents the State of North Carolina and a local mental health authority represents the community. The Department of Mental Health, through the Community Mental Health Services Division, is authorized to maintain standards for local mental health clinics, to advise agencies interested in community mental health, and cooperate with other local health services.

G.S. 122-35.4.  Local Mental Health Authority. Local mental health services, when approved by the Department of Mental Health, may be established by (1) any board of county commissioners, (2) any governing body of a municipality with a population in excess of 25,000 or (3) any independent community agency interested in mental health. The governmental unit or agency establishing the local mental health service shall be known as a 'local mental health authority.' The local mental health authority may establish or designate an advisory board.

G.S. 122-35.5.  Joint Mental Health Services. Joint mental health services may be established by: (1) two or more counties, (2) a combination of two or more cities with a combined population in excess of 25,000 or (3) a combination of one or more cities with one or more counties.

Joint mental health services may be jointly operated, or one participating city or county may contract to provide said services for any other city or county. The costs of joint services are to be apportioned among the participating units on the basis of the population of each participating unit. The local governmental units establishing the joint mental health services shall be known as the 'local mental health authority.'

G.S. 122-35.6.  Establishment of New Local Mental Health Clinics. Any local mental health authority desiring to establish a mental health clinic shall submit an application to the Department of Mental Health. If the Department of Mental Health gives favorable consideration to the application, the Department of Mental Health may include the State's share of the cost of operating the proposed local clinic in its next budget request, or it may request an allotment of funds for this purpose from the Contingency and Emergency Fund.

All local clinics are to be considered a joint undertaking by the Department of Mental Health representing the State and the local mental health authority representing the area served by the clinic.

All procedures regarding the establishment and operation of the clinics not covered under the provisions of this Act may be prescribed by regulation of the State Board of Mental Health.

G.S. 122-35.7.  Supervision and Medical Responsibility of Local Clinics. Each clinic established pursuant to the provisions of this Act must be operated under the supervision of the State Department of Mental Health. There must be a resident clinical director of each clinic who shall be responsible for its administration. The clinical director shall be a medical doctor duly licensed by the State of North Carolina with adequate training and experience in psychiatry acceptable to the Commissioner of Mental Health.

G.S. 122-35.8.  Appointment of Local Clinical Staff. The local mental health authority shall appoint, subject to the approval of the Commissioner of Mental Health, the clinical director of the local mental health clinic. The director of the clinic shall appoint all members of the staff of the clinic.

G.S. 122-35.9.  Physical Property to be Furnished by Local Authority. All real estate, buildings, and equipment necessary to the operation of the local mental health clinic must be supplied from local or Federal funds or both, and such property shall be and remain the property of the local mental health authority.

G.S. 122-35.10.  Fee Policy. The collection of fees for services performed in the child-guidance clinic shall be optional with the local mental health authority. The local clinics serving adult persons shall provide for the collection of fees from individuals accepted for services who are able to pay for such services. No person is to be refused services because of the inability to pay the fees. The fees to be charged are to be fixed by the local mental health authority and all funds so collected shall be utilized for the fiscal operation of the local mental health authority.

G.S. 122-35.11.  Local Funds for Mental Health Clinics. The local mental health authority shall be responsible for obtaining the necessary local funds for the support of the clinic. All such funds are to be placed under the direction of the local mental health authority and are to be used for the purchase of land, buildings, equipment, secretarial services, supplies, maintenance, and to pay the professional staff.

G.S. 122-35.12.  Grants-in-Aid to Local Mental Health Authorities. From State and Federal funds available to the Department of Mental Health, the Department is to make grants-in-aid to the local mental health authorities as follows: Two-thirds of the first thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) of the approved budget of the local mental health authority and one-half of the remainder of the approved budget. Where the actual expenditures of the local mental health authority are less than the approved budget, the State and Federal grants-in-aid are to be determined on the basis of actual expenditures rather than the approved budget. For purposes of this Section the terms approved budget and actual expenditures are not to include the items specified in G.S. 122-35.9."

Sec. 7.  G.S. 122-72, as the same appears in Volume 3B of the General Statutes of North Carolina, is hereby repealed and replaced by the following:

"G.S. 122-72.  Private Mental Institutions Subject to Licensure of State Department of Mental Health; Requirements; Violations and Penalties. (a) It shall be unlawful for any person or corporation to establish or maintain a private hospital, home or school for the cure, treatment or rehabilitation of mentally ill persons, mentally retarded, or inebriates without first having obtained a license therefor from the Department of Mental Health. Any person who carries on, conducts or attempts to carry on or conduct a private hospital, home, or school for the cure, treatment or rehabilitation of mentally ill persons, mentally retarded, or inebriates without first having obtained a license therefor from the Department of Mental Health shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), or by imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, or by such fine and imprisonment. The managing and executive officers of any corporation violating the provisions of this Section shall be liable under the provisions of this Section in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual violating the law.

(b)        Every application for license hereunder shall be accompanied by a plan of the premises proposed to be occupied describing the capacities of the buildings for the uses intended, the extent and location of the grounds and the number of patients proposed to be received therein with such other information and in such form as the Department may require. The Board of Mental Health may by rules or regulations prescribe minimum standards of safety, sanitation, medical, nursing, and other facilities and equipment for each type of establishment which must be met by the applicant before a license will be granted by the Department.

(c)        Hospitals, homes or schools licensed under this Article by the Department of Mental Health shall at all times be subject to the visitation of the said Department or any representative thereof, and each such hospital, home or school shall make to the Department a semiannual report on the first days of January and July of each year. The report shall state the number and residence of all patients admitted, the number discharged during the six (6) months preceding, and the officers of the hospital, home, or school. Each such hospital, home or school shall file with the Department a copy of its bylaws, rules, and regulations. The statistical records of each such hospital, home, or school shall at all times be open to the inspection of the Department of Mental Health. The State Department of Mental Health is authorized to license all private hospitals, homes, and schools established hereafter in this State for the cure, treatment and rehabilitation of the mentally ill, mentally retarded, and inebriate, and the Board of Mental Health may prescribe such minimum standards as they may deem necessary, and shall exercise the power of visitation, and for that purpose may depute any member of the Department to visit any private hospital, home, or school established under this Article.

(d)        The State Department of Mental Health may bring an action in the Superior Court of Wake County to vacate and annul any license granted by the Department, and such license shall be vacated and annulled upon a showing by the Department that the managers of any private hospital, home, or school shall have been guilty of immorality, cruelty, gross neglect, or wilful violation of the rules and regulations of the Board of Mental Health.

(e)        The authority to license and inspect privately-operated homes or other non-medical institutions (including religious facilities) for mentally ill persons, mentally retarded, and inebriates shall be the responsibility of the State Board of Public Welfare, and in such cases the supervision, reports and visitations provided for in this Section with respect to the State Department of Mental Health shall apply with respect to the State Board of Public Welfare and such non-medical institutions."

Sec. 8.  G.S. 122-73 is hereby amended by striking out the words "State Board of Public Welfare" appearing in the sixth line thereof and substituting in lieu thereof the words "State Department of Mental Health".

Sec. 9.  G.S. 122-74 is hereby amended by inserting in line four thereof immediately following the word "the" and immediately preceding the word "Board" the following: "Department of Mental Health or".

Sec. 10.  The words "State Department of Mental Health" are substituted for the words "Hospitals Board of Control" each time that the latter appears in G.S. 122-2, 122-2.1, 122-3, 122-4, 122-6, redesignated 122-7, redesignated 122-8, 122-11.4, 122-11.6, 122-13.1, and any other Sections of the General Statutes of North Carolina, except as otherwise provided in this Act.

Sec. 11.  The words "State Department of Mental Health" are substituted for the words "board of directors" each time that the latter appears in G.S. 122-34, G.S. 122-35, and any other Sections of the General Statutes of North Carolina wherein the words "board of directors" are used to refer to the Hospitals Board of Control, except as otherwise provided in this Act.

Sec. 12.  The words "State Board of Mental Health" are substituted for the words "Hospitals Board of Control" each time that the latter appears in redesignated G.S. 122-8.1, and in G.S. 122-13.

Sec. 13.  The words "State Board of Mental Health" are substituted for the words "board of directors" each time that the latter appears in G.S. 122-9, 122-11, 122-12, 122-16, 122-17, 122-19, 122-31 and 122-32.

Sec. 14.  G.S. 131-126.17 is hereby amended by changing the words "State Board of Public Welfare" to "State Department of Mental Health" in line two of said Section.

Sec. 14a.  There is hereby appropriated to the State Department of Mental Health from the General Fund of the State the sum of one hundred forty-six thousand six hundred thirty-two dollars ($146,632) for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1963, and one hundred forty‑six thousand six hundred thirty-two dollars ($146,632) for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1964, for the purposes of carrying out the provisions of this Act during the 1963-65 biennium.

Sec. 15.  All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 16.  This Act shall be in full force and effect from and after its ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 24th day of June, 1963.