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 Oklahoma Statutes (Last Updated: September 18, 2014)
 Title 43A. MENTAL HEALTH

  § 43A-5-411. Rights of individual alleged to require treatment.  

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  • A.  An individual alleged to be a person requiring treatment shall have the following rights:

    1.  The right to notice, as provided by Section 5-412 of this title;

    2.  The right to counsel, including court-appointed counsel, and if the person has no counsel, that the court shall appoint an attorney to represent the person at no cost if the person is an indigent person and cannot afford an attorney;

    3.  The right to a hearing and the right to a closed hearing, unless the person requests otherwise;

    4.  Upon request, right to a jury trial.  The jury shall be composed of six persons having the qualifications required of jurors in courts of record;

    5.  The right to be present at the hearing on the petition or jury trial.  The person shall be present at the hearing or jury trial unless the court finds that the presence of the person alleged to be a person requiring treatment makes it impossible to conduct the hearing or trial in a reasonable manner or that the presence of the person would be injurious to the health or well-being of such person.

    a.The court shall not decide in advance of the hearing, solely on the basis of the mental health evaluation, that the person alleged to be a person requiring treatment should not be allowed nor required to appear.

    b.Prior to issuing an order excluding the person from the hearing or jury trial, the court shall find, based upon clear and convincing evidence, that alternatives to exclusion of the person were attempted;

    6.  The right to present and to cross-examine witnesses.  The petitioner and witnesses identified in the petition shall offer testimony under oath at the hearing on the petition.  When the hearing is conducted as a jury trial, the petitioner and any witness in behalf of the petitioner shall be subject to cross-examination by the attorney for the person alleged to be a person requiring treatment.  The person alleged to be a person requiring treatment may also be called as a witness and cross-examined.

    B.  An individual alleged to be or found by a court to be a person requiring treatment shall be afforded such other rights as are guaranteed by state and federal law.

    C.  No statement, admission or confession made by the person alleged to be a person requiring treatment shall be used for any purpose except for proceedings under this act.  No such statement, admission or confession may be used against such person in any criminal action whether pending at the time the hearing is held or filed against such person at any later time directly or in any manner or form.

    D.  An attorney appointed by the court to represent a person alleged to be a person requiring treatment shall be a licensed and actively practicing attorney who shall represent the person until final disposition of the case.  The court may appoint a public defender where available.

    1.  The attorney appointed by the court shall meet and consult with the person within one (1) day of notification of the appointment.  The attorney shall immediately, upon meeting with the person alleged to be a person requiring treatment, present to such person a statement of the rights, including all rights afforded to persons alleged to be a person requiring treatment by the Oklahoma and the United States Constitutions.

    2.  The court-appointed attorney shall be replaced by another attorney if:

    a.the person alleged to be a person requiring treatment prefers the services of an attorney other than the one initially appointed for the person,

    b.the preferred attorney agrees to accept the responsibility, and

    c.the person alleged to be a person requiring treatment or the preferred attorney notifies the court of the preference and the attorney's acceptance of employment.

    The preferred attorney shall meet and consult with the person within one (1) day of employment or appointment.  Any request for additional days shall be subject to the discretion of the court, considering the facts and circumstances of each particular case, including cost.

    3.  The attorney fees for all services shall be paid by the person alleged to be a person requiring treatment.  However, if the person alleged to be a person requiring treatment, or a person empowered pursuant to law to act on behalf of such person, submits an affidavit that such person is indigent and unable to pay attorney fees, the attorney fees shall be paid from the court fund, after a determination by the court that such person is indigent.  The amount of such fee shall be set by the court.

    4.  The attorney representing the person alleged to be a person requiring treatment shall notify the court of any current and unrevoked advance directive that has been executed by such person pursuant to the Advance Directives for Mental Health Treatment Act and provide a written copy of the advance directive, if available, to the court and a representative of the district attorney's office.

Added by Laws 1997, c. 387, § 5, eff. Nov. 1, 1997.  Amended by Laws 2002, c. 488, § 38, eff. Nov. 1, 2002; Laws 2006, c. 97, § 19, eff. Nov. 1, 2006.