NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1965 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 800

HOUSE BILL 427

 

 

AN ACT TO AMEND CERTAIN SECTIONS OF CHAPTER 122 OF THE GENERAL STATUTES OF NORTH CAROLINA, VOLUME 3-B, RELATING TO THE DIVISION OF TERRITORY OF THE SEVERAL INSTITUTIONS, CARE AND TREATMENT OF INDIANS, CARE OF EPILEPTICS, DISCLOSURE OF MENTAL PATIENTS' RECORDS AND INFORMATION, RECORDS, ETC., PHYSICAL PROPERTY FURNISHED BY LOCAL AND FEDERAL AUTHORITIES, GRANTS-IN-AID TO LOCAL MENTAL HEALTH AUTHORITIES, TRANSFER OF MENTALLY ILL CITIZENS OF NORTH CAROLINA, OBJECT AND AIMS OF CENTERS FOR MENTALLY RETARDED, AND MENTALLY ILL CONVICTS, AND FURTHER RELATING TO OTHER SECTIONS OF CHAPTER 122 RELATING TO HOSPITALS FOR THE MENTALLY ILL.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

 

Section 1.  G.S. 122-4 is hereby amended by rewriting same to read as follows:

"G.S. 122-4.  Division of Territory Among the Several Institutions Under the North Carolina State Department of Mental Health. It shall be the duty of the North Carolina State Department of Mental Health to designate regions for any State hospitals or institutions now or hereafter established for the admission of mentally disordered persons of the State, with authority to change said regions when deemed necessary. It shall notify the clerks of Superior Court of the counties of the regions designated and of any change of these regions."

Sec. 2.  G.S. 122-5 is hereby repealed, but the numerical section and order is retained for use in further legislation.

Sec. 3.  G.S. 122-6 is hereby repealed, but the numerical section and order is retained for use in further legislation.

Sec. 4.  Chapter 122 Article 1, of the General Statutes of North Carolina is amended by the addition of a new Section immediately following G.S. 122-8.1, to be designated G.S. 122-8.2 and to read as follows:

"G.S. 122-8.2.  Commissioner Authorized to Receive Data. The Commissioner of Mental Health or his authorized agent is hereby authorized to receive data from private or public agencies or agents for research and study in mental health. All data received shall be used by the Commissioner of Mental Health, or his authorized agent, for research and study, and program planning. No criminal or civil action may be brought against any person or agency who shall provide or submit to the Commissioner of Mental Health, or his authorized agent, said identifying data.

"It is unlawful for the Commissioner of Mental Health or any person to disclose, release, or divulge any information identifying a reported or reporting person under the provisions of this statute.

"Violation of this statute constitutes a misdemeanor, and upon conviction the defendant shall be punished by fine or imprisonment, or both, in the discretion of the court."

Sec. 5.  G.S. 122-11.4 is hereby amended by rewriting same to read as follows:

"G.S. 122-11.4.  Monthly Reports to Commissioner of Mental Health. The superintendent or director of each of said facilities shall make monthly reports to the Commissioner of Mental Health in such manner and detail as the North Carolina State Department of Mental Health may prescribe."

Sec. 6.  G.S. 122-20 is hereby repealed, but the numerical section and order is retained for use in further legislation.

Sec. 7.  G.S. 122-35.9 is hereby amended by rewriting same to read as follows:

"G.S. 122-35.9.  Physical Property to be Furnished by Local or Federal Authorities. 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. Provided, that where two or more local governmental units combine to establish joint mental health services in accordance with the provisions of Section 122-35.5, the real estate, buildings, and equipment may by agreement be supplied from the funds of and remain the property of the local governmental unit in which they are located."

Sec. 8.  G.S. 122-35.12 is hereby amended by rewriting same to read as follows:

"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 ($30,000.00) of the approved budget of the local mental health authority and one-half of the remainder of the approved budget: Provided, that where two or more local governmental units combine to establish joint mental health services in accordance with the provisions of Section 122-35.5, two-thirds of the first thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.00) of the share of each participating unit and one-half of the remainder of the share of the unit shall be paid from State and federal funds. 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. 9.  G.S. 122-40 is hereby amended by rewriting same to read as follows:

"G.S. 122-40.  Transfer of Mentally 111 Citizens of North Carolina From Another State to North Carolina. The State Department of Mental Health is authorized, upon being satisfied by report of residence investigation made by the State Board of Public Welfare that person hospitalized in a State Hospital for the mentally ill in another state is a resident of this State, to authorize such a person to be returned to the appropriate institution in this State at the expense of the sending state. The hospitalization of an alleged mentally ill person or an alleged inebriate in another state and the authorization by the State Department of Mental Health for his return shall be sufficient authority for the superintendent of the appropriate State hospital in this State to hold this patient for a reasonable period not to exceed thirty days. During this time hospitalization procedures for temporary observation and treatment may be initiated as provided for in Article 7 of this Chapter, without the removal of the patient from the hospital."

Sec. 10.  G.S. 122-52 is hereby repealed, but the numerical section and order is retained for use in further legislation.

Sec. 11.  G.S. 122-69.1 is hereby amended by adding thereto two additional subsections which shall be designated as subsection (9) and (10), and each of said subsections shall read as follows:

"(9)      Accept patients transferred to North Carolina under reciprocal agreements with other states and patients transferred under Interstate Mental Health Compact.

"(10)    Transfer patients out of North Carolina under reciprocal agreements with other states and under Interstate Mental Health Compact.

Sec. 12.  G.S. 122-70 is hereby amended by rewriting same to read as follows:

"G.S. 122-70.  Admissions to Centers for Mentally Retarded. Application for the admission of a resident person must be made by both the father and the mother if the father and mother are living together, and if not, by the parent having custody or person standing in loco parentis, or by a duly appointed guardian of the person. Otherwise, the State Department of Mental Health is authorized and empowered to promulgate rules, regulations and conditions of admission of children and adults to the centers."

Sec. 13.  G.S. 122-85 is hereby amended by inserting after the words "provided by §§" on line 11 and before the figures "122-66.1" the figures "122.65" and adding a comma after said insertion.

Sec. 14.  All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 15.  This Act shall become effective upon its ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 3rd day of June, 1965.