D.C. Code § 21-502

Current through codified legislation effective October 30, 2024

Section 21-502 - Commission on Mental Health; composition; appointment and terms of members; organization; chairperson; salaries

(a) The Commission on Mental Health is continued. The Chief Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia shall appoint the members of the Commission, and the Commission shall be composed of 9 members and an alternate chairperson. One member shall be a magistrate judge of the Court appointed pursuant to title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, who shall be a member of the bar of the Court and has engaged in active practice of law in the District of Columbia for a period of at least 5 years prior to his or her appointment. The magistrate judge shall be the Chairperson of the Commission and act as the administrative head of the Commission. The Chairperson shall preside at all hearings and direct all of the proceedings before the Commission. Eight members of the Commission shall be psychiatrists or qualified psychologists, as those terms are defined in section 21-501, who have not had less than 5 years of experience in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.

(b)

(1) Appointment of members of the Commission shall be for terms of 4 years.

(2) The initial appointment of a psychiatrist or a qualified psychologist shall be for a probationary period of one year. After the initial one-year probationary appointment, subsequent appointments of the psychiatrist or qualified psychologist shall be for terms of 4 years.

(c) The psychiatrist or qualified psychologist members of the Commission shall serve on a part-time basis and shall be rotated by assignment of the Chief Judge of the Court, so that at any one time the Commission shall consist of the Chairperson and 2 members, each of whom is either a psychiatrist or a qualified psychologist. Members of the Commission who are psychiatrists or qualified psychologists may practice their professions during their tenures of office, but may not participate in the disposition of a case of a person in which they have rendered professional service or advice.

(d) The Chief Judge of the Court shall appoint a magistrate judge of the Court to serve as an alternate Chairperson of the Commission. The alternate Chairperson shall serve on a part time basis and act as Chairperson in the absence of the permanent Chairperson.

(e) The rate of compensation for the members of the Commission who are psychiatrists or qualified psychologists shall be fixed by the Executive Officer of the Court.

D.C. Code § 21-502

Sept. 14, 1965, 79 Stat. 751, Pub. L. 89-183, § 1; July 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 567, Pub. L. 91-358, title I, § 150(c)(1); Oct. 30, 1986, Pub. L. 99-591, title I, § 154, title I, 100 Stat. 3341-356; Apr. 4, 2003, D.C. Law 14-283, § 2(d), 50 DCR 917; Dec. 10, 2004, 118 Stat. 3472, Pub. L. 108-450, § 2(a).

Governing Body of the Commission on Mental Health Services established: See Mayor's Order 88-168, July 13, 1988.

Section 2(c) of Pub. L. 108-450, 118 Stat. 3472, the District of Columbia Mental Health Civil Commitment Modernization Act of 2004, provided:

"(c) Effective date; Transition for current members.-The amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, except nothing in this section or the amendments made by this section may be construed to affect the appointment or term of service of any individual who serves as a member or alternate member of the Commission on Mental Health (including an individual who serves as the Chairperson or alternate Chairperson of the Commission) on such date."

Applicability of §§ 2(d), (e), (l)(2), (n), (r)(3) and (4), (t), and (u) of Law 14-283: Section 3 of Law 14-283 provided that section 2(d), (e), (l)(2), (n), (r)(3) and (4), (t), and (u) shall apply upon the enactment of legislation by the United States Congress that states the following:

"Notwithstanding any other law, section 2(d), (e), (l)(2), (r)(3) and (4), (t), and (u) of the Mental Health Civil Commitment Act of 2002, adopted by the Council of the District of Columbia, is enacted into law."