LD 1517
pg. 2
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LR 2194
Item 1

 
Sec. 2. 15 MRSA §104-A, sub-§1, as corrected by RR 1995, c. 2, §28 and
amended by PL 2001, c. 354, §3 and PL 2003, c. 689, Pt. B, §§6 and
7, is further amended to read:

 
1. Release and discharge. The term "release," as used in
this section, means termination of institutional in-patient
residency and return to permanent residency in the community.
The head of the institution in which a person is placed, under
section 103, shall, annually, forward to the Commissioner of
Health and Human Services a report containing the opinion of a
staff psychiatrist as to the mental conditions of that person,
stating specifically whether the person may be released or
discharged without likelihood that the person will cause injury
to that person or to others due to mental disease or mental
defect. The report must also contain a brief statement of the
reasons for the opinion. The commissioner shall immediately file
the report in the Superior Court for the county in which the
person is hospitalized committed. The court shall review each
report and, if it is made to appear by the report that any person
may be ready for release or discharge, the court shall set a date
for and hold a hearing on the issue of the person's readiness for
release or discharge. The court shall give notice of the hearing
and mail a copy of the report to the Attorney General, offices of
the district attorney that prosecuted the criminal charges for
which the person was acquitted by reason of insanity committed
under section 103 and the offices of the district attorneys in
whose district the release petition was filed or in whose
district release may occur. At the hearing, the court shall
receive the testimony of at least one psychiatrist who has
treated the person and a member of the State Forensic Service who
has examined the person, the testimony of any independent
psychiatrist or licensed clinical psychologist who is employed by
the prosecuter prosecutor and has examined the person and any
other relevant testimony. If, after hearing, the court finds
that the person may be released or discharged without likelihood
that the person will cause injury to that person or to others due
to mental disease or mental defect, the court shall order, as
applicable:

 
A. Release from the institution, provided that:

 
(1) The order for release may include conditions
determined appropriate by the court, including, but not
limited to, out-patient treatment and supervision by
the Department of Health and Human Services, Division
of Mental Health; and

 
(2) The order for release includes the condition that the
person must be returned to the institution


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