Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0244 Page: 4 of 11
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The Honorable David M. Motley - Page 4
section 574.025 of the Health and Safety Code if an application for court-ordered mental health
services is pending in the appropriate Howard County court).
You are concerned about the court's duties with respect to hearing matters involving patients
receiving mental health services in Kerr County whose treatment was initiated in another county and
who are receiving services pursuant to the order of a court in another county. Generally, chapter 574,
subchapter E provides that requests to modify commitment orders are filed with the court that
entered the commitment order. See, e.g., TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. 574.061(a)
(Vernon 2003) ("The facility administrator of a facility to which a patient is committed for inpatient
mental health services may request the court that entered the commitment order to modify the order
to require the patient to participate in outpatient mental health services."), 574.062(a) ("The court
that entered an order directing a patient to participate in outpatient mental health services may set
a hearing to determine if the order should be modified in a way that is a substantial deviation from
the original program of treatment incorporated in the court's order."). However, section 574.008(c)
of the Health and Safety Code permits a court in the county where a patient is receiving temporary
inpatient services to hear a request for extended inpatient services:
If a patient is receiving temporary inpatient mental health
services in a county other than the county that initiated the
court-ordered inpatient mental health services and the patient requires
extended inpatient mental health services, the county in which the
proceedings originated shall pay the expenses of transporting the
patient back to the county for the hearing unless the court that entered
the temporary order arranges with the appropriate court in the
county in which the patient is receiving services to hold the hearing
on court-ordered extended inpatient mental health services before the
original order expires.
Id. 574.008(c) (emphasis added). By its plain terms, section 574.008(c) does not require a court
in the county where the patient is receiving services to hold the hearing. See id.4
Finally, subchapter G of chapter 574 permits a physician who is treating a patient to "file an
application in a probate court or a court with probate jurisdiction for an order to authorize the
administration of a psychoactive medication regardless of the patient's refusal." Id. 574.104(a);
see also id. 574.104(c) ("An application filed under this section is separate from an application for
court-ordered mental health services."). Section 574.104(d) requires a court to hear a subchapter G
application transferred from another county if the patient has been transferred to a mental health
facility in the court's county. See id. 574.104(d) ("If the hearing is not held on the same day as the
application for court-ordered mental health services under Section 574.034 or 574.035 and the
patient is transferred to a mental health facility in another county, the court may transfer the
4See also Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JC-0364 (2001) at 11 ("[W]ith respect to a patient receiving temporary
inpatient mental-health services in Howard County under order by another county's court, Howard County Courts have
no jurisdiction to conduct a ninety-day hearing under section 574.034 or a hearing on a motion for extended care under
section 574.035 unless the appropriate Howard County court has arranged to hold the hearing.").(GA-0244)
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: GA-0244, text, September 1, 2004; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth275140/m1/4/: accessed July 8, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.