Mental health commitment
New Jersey bill would extend 72-hour mental health holds
Assembly Members Linda Carter and Shanique Speight’s bill would keep the current 72-hour hold for certain patients in place through the 44th month after the law takes effect. It also extends training for hospitals and county assignment judges.
In New Jersey, the temporary hold used in some involuntary-commitment cases would remain on the books a little longer. The proposal keeps short-term care facilities, psychiatric facilities and special psychiatric hospitals able to detain referred patients for up to 72 hours without a temporary court order, while extending the related education requirement.
- The bill keeps a 72-hour involuntary-commitment hold in place.
- It would extend the authority from the 36th to the 44th month after the law takes effect.
- The change affects short-term care facilities, psychiatric facilities and special psychiatric hospitals.
- Recorded votes show no no votes on the key committee action.
- In New Jersey, people brought in for involuntary commitment could remain in a temporary hold a little longer before the next legal step kicks in
In New Jersey, people brought in for involuntary commitment could remain in a temporary hold a little longer before the next legal step kicks in. A5222 would keep short-term care facilities, psychiatric facilities and special psychiatric hospitals able to detain an involuntarily admitted person referred by a screening service for up to 72 hours without a temporary court order.
The bill does not build a new commitment system. It extends an existing stopgap that now expires in the 36th calendar month after the law’s effective date and would instead run through the 44th month.
The extra months on the clock
That 72-hour window is the bridge between emergency screening and formal court oversight, the point where a short hold can turn into a longer legal question about where a patient should go next. The bill keeps that bridge in place for eight more months.
Assemblywomen Linda Carter and Shanique Speight sponsor the measure. Available key vote records show the bill advanced without recorded no votes.