HF 91 (LSB 1600YH (3) 86)

HOUSE FILE 91

BY  HEDDENS, HEATON, and PRICHARD

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the appointment of mental health advocates.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 229.19, subsection 1, paragraphs a and b, Code 2015, are amended to read as follows:
   a.  In each county, with a population of three hundred thousand or more inhabitants the board of supervisors shall appoint an individual who has demonstrated by prior activities an informed concern for the welfare and rehabilitation of persons with mental illness, and who is not an officer or employee of the department of human services nor of any agency or facility providing care or treatment to persons with mental illness, to act as an advocate representing the interests of patients involuntarily hospitalized by the court, in any matter relating to the patients’ hospitalization or treatment under section 229.14 or 229.15. In each county with a population of under three hundred thousand inhabitants, the chief judge of the judicial district encompassing the county shall appoint the advocate.
   b.  The court or, if the advocate is appointed by the county board of supervisors, the board shall assign the advocate appointed from a patient’s county of residence to represent the interests of the patient. If a patient has no county of residence or the patient is a state case, the court or, if the advocate is appointed by the county board of supervisors, the board shall assign the advocate appointed from the county where the hospital or facility is located to represent the interests of the patient.
    Sec. 2.  Section 229.19, subsection 3, Code 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  The court or, if the advocate is appointed by the county board of supervisors, the board shall prescribe reasonable compensation for the services of the advocate. The compensation shall be based upon the reports filed by the advocate with the court the duties performed by the advocate and in accordance with the personnel policies set forth by the board for county employees. The advocate’s compensation shall be paid by the county in which the court is located, either on order of the court or, if the advocate is appointed by the county board of supervisors, on the direction of the board. If the advocate is appointed by the court, the advocate is an employee of the state for purposes of chapter 669. If the advocate is appointed by the county board of supervisors, the The advocate is an employee of the county for purposes of chapter 670. If the patient or the person who is legally liable for the patient’s support is not indigent, the board shall recover the costs of compensating the advocate from that person. If that person has an income level as determined pursuant to section 815.9 greater than one hundred percent but not more than one hundred fifty percent of the poverty guidelines, at least one hundred dollars of the advocate’s compensation shall be recovered in the manner prescribed by the county board of supervisors. If that person has an income level as determined pursuant to section 815.9 greater than one hundred fifty percent of the poverty guidelines, at least two hundred dollars of the advocate’s compensation shall be recovered in substantially the same manner prescribed by the county board of supervisors as provided in section 815.9.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with

the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to the appointment of mental health advocates.
   Under current law, the appointment of a mental health advocate to represent the interests of a person involuntarily hospitalized under Code chapter 229 is made by either the county board of supervisors in a patient’s county of residence if the county has a population of 300,000 or more, or by the chief judge of the judicial district if the patient’s county of residence has a population under 300,000. A mental health advocate is paid by either the state or the appropriate county.
   The bill amends this current law to eliminate court appointments of mental health advocates and specifies that all mental health advocate appointments shall be made by the county board of supervisors in a patient’s county of residence. If a patient has no county of residence, the county board of supervisors is directed to appoint an advocate from the county where the patient’s hospital or facility is located to represent the patient’s interests. Under the bill, the mental health advocate in each county will be paid by the appropriate county and considered to be an employee of the county for purposes of Code chapter 670.