MS 2022-09-C-Bise-September-21-2022-Involuntary-Mental-Commitment-Procedures September 21, 2022

In Mississippi, do you have to get a community mental-health screening before filing a commitment affidavit?

Short answer: No. A relative or interested person can file an affidavit with the chancery clerk first. After the chancellor directs, the sheriff transports the person to a community mental health center for the pre-evaluation screening and treatment. Pre-screening is not a precondition to filing under §§ 41-21-65(1) and 41-21-67(1).

Disclaimer: This is an official Mississippi Attorney General opinion. AG opinions are persuasive authority but not binding precedent. This summary is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Consult a licensed Mississippi attorney for advice on your specific situation.

Plain-English summary

A chancellor in Mississippi's Eighth Chancery Court District asked the AG whether the law required someone to get a community mental health center to do a pre-evaluation screening before any affidavit for involuntary commitment could be filed. The concern arose because some courts in the state had been requiring screenings up front, while others were taking affidavits and then ordering screenings.

The AG: pre-screening is not a precondition to filing.

Miss. Code Ann. § 41-21-65(1) and § 41-21-67(1) set up the sequence. A relative of the person alleged to need treatment, or another interested person, can file an affidavit with the chancery clerk. The chancellor then directs what happens next. Typically the sheriff takes the person alleged to need treatment to the appropriate community mental health center for the pre-evaluation screening and treatment. The statutes contemplate the screening as a step that happens under court direction, not as a gate that has to clear before the courthouse door opens.

The AG also points readers to Department of Mental Health resources. Under § 41-21-65, the Department has developed a Uniform Civil Commitment Affidavit form and a Uniform Civil Commitment Guide. Both are on its website (linked under Citations below). The forms standardize the affidavit so a chancery clerk anywhere in Mississippi can intake a complete filing.

What this means for you

If you are a family member trying to get someone help

You can file an affidavit at the chancery clerk's office in the county where the person lives. You do not need to first arrange for a community mental health center to evaluate the person, and you should not be turned away on that ground. Use the Uniform Civil Commitment Affidavit form from the Department of Mental Health if your county clerk does not give you one. Be specific in the affidavit: what you have observed, when, and why you believe the person needs treatment. After you file, the chancellor will direct the next step, which usually includes a sheriff transport to a community mental health center for the screening.

If you are a chancery clerk

This opinion is the answer to "we cannot accept this affidavit until you bring me a screening." Affidavits filed by relatives or interested persons under § 41-21-65(1) and § 41-21-67(1) are intake-ready as filed. Use the Uniform Civil Commitment Affidavit form to make sure the affidavit is complete on its face. The screening is ordered later, on the chancellor's direction.

If you are a chancellor

The opinion confirms a sequence: affidavit first, judicial direction next, transport and screening after that. If your court has been requiring the screening before accepting the affidavit, the AG's read is that the statutes do not support that requirement.

If you are a community mental health center

You should expect to see referrals coming through the chancery court process, ordered by the chancellor, with sheriff transport. You are not the gatekeeper for filing.

If you are a hospital emergency department or first responder

This is a civil commitment process, not a hold. Emergency holds (e.g., short-term holds for imminent danger) operate under different statutes. The Bise opinion is about the standard chancery court commitment path that begins with an affidavit, not about whether someone in crisis can be detained on the spot for evaluation.

Common questions

Q: Who can file the affidavit?
A: § 41-21-65 lets a relative file. § 41-21-67(1) extends filing to "an interested person." That is broader than family. Mississippi courts have read it as someone with a meaningful connection to the person alleged to need treatment, including treating professionals or close friends who can attest to current behavior.

Q: What does the affidavit have to say?
A: The Department of Mental Health's Uniform Civil Commitment Affidavit standardizes the required content. Generally: identification of the person alleged to need treatment, observations supporting the belief that the person needs treatment, the basis of the affiant's knowledge, and contact information. The Guide that the Department publishes alongside the form walks affiants through each section.

Q: After I file, what happens?
A: The chancellor reviews the affidavit and directs the next steps. In a typical sequence the chancellor enters an order, the sheriff is directed to take the person alleged to need treatment to the community mental health center for pre-evaluation screening, the screening report comes back, and a hearing is scheduled. The exact timing and procedure can vary by county.

Q: Can the chancellor refuse to act on the affidavit?
A: A chancellor can decline to find probable cause to proceed. The opinion does not address what threshold the affidavit must meet. It simply confirms that filing is not gated by a pre-existing screening.

Q: Where do I find the Uniform Civil Commitment Affidavit?
A: The Mississippi Department of Mental Health publishes the form. Mississippi.gov hosts the agency's site at https://www.dmh.ms.gov/.

Q: Are there alternatives to involuntary commitment in Mississippi?
A: Outpatient commitment, voluntary admission, crisis stabilization units, and emergency hospitalization for imminent danger are all separate tracks. Family members are often best served by calling the local community mental health center or the Mississippi Department of Mental Health helpline before resorting to the affidavit process if there is no immediate emergency. Civil commitment is a serious legal step.

Background and statutory framework

Mississippi's involuntary civil commitment process is housed in Chapter 21 of Title 41 of the Mississippi Code. The chapter creates a chancery-court-centered system for commitments to mental health treatment, separate from criminal proceedings.

The intake step is the affidavit. § 41-21-65 contemplates a Uniform Civil Commitment Affidavit, and § 41-21-67(1) lays out who can file it. After filing, the chancellor's order can include directing the sheriff to take the person to the appropriate community mental health center for pre-evaluation screening and, if appropriate, treatment.

The opinion was likely prompted by friction at the screening stage. Some Mississippi community mental health centers had asked for the screening to happen before any affidavit was filed, presumably to manage workload and to avoid civil commitments where outpatient interventions would suffice. The AG's opinion confirms that the statutes do not put screening before filing; they put filing first, then judicial direction, then screening.

Citations

Miss. Code Ann. § 41-21-65 (Uniform Civil Commitment Affidavit and Guide)
Miss. Code Ann. § 41-21-65(1) (filing of affidavit by relative or interested person)
Miss. Code Ann. § 41-21-67(1) (procedure for filing and judicial direction)
Mississippi Department of Mental Health, https://www.dmh.ms.gov/ (Uniform Civil Commitment Affidavit form and Guide)

Source

Original opinion text

September 21, 2022
The Honorable Carter Bise
Chancellor, Eighth Chancery Court District
Post Office Box 1542
Gulfport, Mississippi 39502
Re:

Involuntary Mental Commitment Procedures

Dear Chancellor Bise:
The Office of the Attorney General has received your two requests for an official opinion regarding
the same basic issue.
Question Presented
Is a pre-evaluation screening by a community health center required prior to an interested person
or family member filing an affidavit with the chancery clerk that a person needs mental health
treatment?
Brief Response
No. A pre-evaluation screening by a community health center is not required prior to the filing of
an affidavit that a person needs mental health treatment. Pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated
Sections 41-21-65(1) and 41-21-67(1), a relative of the person alleged to need treatment or an
interested person may file an affidavit with the chancery clerk and upon direction of the chancellor,
the sheriff would take the person alleged to need treatment for pre-evaluation screening and
treatment by the appropriate community mental health center.
In accordance with Section 41-21-65, the Mississippi Department of Mental Health has developed
a Uniform Civil Commitment Affidavit form and Uniform Civil Commitment Guide, both of
which are available on its website: https://www.ms.gov/Agencies/department-mental-health.

If this office may be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
LYNN FITCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL
By:

/s/ Beebe Garrard
Beebe Garrard
Special Assistant Attorney General