Mental Health Warrants

Programs that issue orders which authorize law enforcement officers to apprehend, take into protective custody and transport an individual to an appropriate mental health facility for an emergency psychiatric evaluation and possible detention in situations where there is reasonable cause to believe that the person is a serious danger to him or herself or another, or is incapable of self-care. The individual can be held by the facility for a specified period of time, generally 72 hours, and then must either be released or, if additional treatment is needed, further court involvement is required.