Opinion
No. 08-22-00150-CV
09-21-2022
The STATE of Texas FOR the Best Interest and Protection of A.R.C.
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: Kirk Cooper, Cooper Appeals, P.L.L.C., 10420 Montwood Dr., Ste. N-405, El Paso, TX 79936. ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: Dana Irwin Carmona, Kevin McCary, Michael Gomez, Assistant County Attorneys, 500 E. San Antonio Room 503, El Paso, TX 79901. ATTORNEY AMICUS CURIAE: Frank Gonzalez, Texas Tech University System, 4801 Alberta Avenue, Suite B-09, El Paso, TX 79905.
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: Kirk Cooper, Cooper Appeals, P.L.L.C., 10420 Montwood Dr., Ste. N-405, El Paso, TX 79936.
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: Dana Irwin Carmona, Kevin McCary, Michael Gomez, Assistant County Attorneys, 500 E. San Antonio Room 503, El Paso, TX 79901.
ATTORNEY AMICUS CURIAE: Frank Gonzalez, Texas Tech University System, 4801 Alberta Avenue, Suite B-09, El Paso, TX 79905.
Before Rodriguez, C.J., Palafox, and Alley, JJ.
OPINION
YVONNE T. RODRIGUEZ, Chief Justice
Appellant, A.R.C., appeals the trial court's order to administer psychoactive medications issued after the trial court committed him to temporary inpatient mental health treatment. In his first issue, Appellant. challenges the psychoactive-medication order because the trial court erred in holding the commitment hearing when it did not have on file two statutorily compliant certificates of medical examination (CME). Alternatively, Appellant asks us to vacate the order because the commitment order was not supported by legally and factually sufficient evidence.
In a companion case issued of even date herewith, we determined that because only one statutorily compliant certificate of medical examination was on file at the time of the hearing on the application for temporary mental health services, the trial court erred in conducting the hearing and ordering the involuntary commitment of A.R.C. See TEX.HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 574.009(d). We reversed the trial court's order for temporary mental health services and rendered judgment ordering A.R.C.’s immediate release.
The State of Texas for the Best Interest and Protection of A.R.C. , No. 08-22-00149-CV, ––– S.W.3d ––––, 2022 WL 4364127 (Tex.App.-El Paso 2022).
A trial court may enter an order authorizing the administration of psychoactive medication only if the patient is under a valid order for temporary or extended mental health services. J.M. v. State , 178 S.W.3d 185, 197 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2005, no pet.) (citing TEX.HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 574.106(a)(1) ). "In the absence of a valid order for temporary or extended mental health services, the order authorizing the administration of psychoactive medication is not authorized by statute and cannot stand." State ex rel. E.A. , No. 14-14-00980-CV, 2015 WL 5173036, at *4 (Tex.App.—Houston [14th Dist], Sept. 3, 2015, no pet.) (mem. op.) (citing In re L.W. , No. 02-14-00371-CV, 2015 WL 222350, at *2 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth Jan. 15, 2015, no pet.) (mem. op.) ; J.M. , 178 S.W.3d at 197 ; State ex rel. C.C., III , 253 S.W.3d 888, 895 (Tex.App.—Dallas 2008, no pet.) ).
Because we have concluded that the trial court's order for temporary mental health services is invalid, we likewise must hold that its order to administer psychoactive medication is null and void. We sustain Appellant's first issue and reverse the order to administer psychoactive medication.
Palafox, J., dissenting
Alley, J., concurring
DISSENTING OPINION
GINA M. PALAFOX, Justice
The majority concludes the trial court's order for temporary mental health services was invalid pursuant to TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 574.009(d). I dissent and refer to my dissenting opinion in the companion case decided today, The State of Texas for the Best Interest and Protection of A.R.C. , Cause No. 08-22-0149-CV, ––– S.W.3d ––––, 2022 WL 4364127 (Tex.App.-El Paso 2022). Because I would conclude the record established that two statutorily compliant certificates of medical examination were on file at the time of the hearing on the application for temporary mental health services, I would affirm the trial court's ruling authorizing the administration of psychoactive medications. Cf. J.M. v. State , 178 S.W.3d 185, 197 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2005, no pet.) (concluding that an order for psychoactive medication may be entered "if the patient is under a valid order for temporary or extended mental health services" (citing TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. § 574.106(a)(1) )).
See The State of Texas for the Best Interest and Protection of A.R.C. , Cause No. 08-22-0149-CV, ––– S.W.3d ––––, 2022 WL 4364127 (Tex.App.-El Paso 2022).