OAR 291-047-0061
Hearings Process


(1)

The Department of Human Services shall provide for an administrative commitment hearing conducted by a hearings officer employed or under contract with the Department of Corrections for administrative commitment or extension of the transfer of the inmate if:

(a)

The Department of Human Services determines that administrative commitment for treatment for a mental illness is necessary or advisable or that the Department of Human Services needs more than 30 days to stabilize or evaluate the inmate for treatment; and

(b)

The inmate does not consent to the administrative commitment or an extension of the transfer.

(c)

Inmates in the legal custody of the Department of Corrections and in the physical custody of the Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) will be administratively committed through an OYA hearing, pursuant to OAR 416-425-0020 (Procedures for Transfer). Inmates in OYA physical custody will be transferred directly from an OYA facility to a state mental hospital listed in ORS 426.010 (State hospitals for persons with mental illness) or a hospital or facility designated by the Department of Human Services and returned directly to the OYA facility.

(2)

It is the responsibility of the Superintendent/designee of the Oregon State Hospital to notify the hearings officer of the need for a hearing and to provide him or her with a transfer request containing the evidence justifying such action.

(3)

The hearing shall be conducted by an independent hearings officer.

(4)

The hearings officer shall not have participated in any previous way in the assessment process.

(5)

The hearings officer may pose questions during the hearing.

(6)

The evidence considered by the hearings officer will be of such reliability as would be considered by reasonable persons in the conduct of their serious affairs.

(7)

When confidential informant testimony is submitted to the hearings officer, the identity of the informant and the verbatim statement of the informant shall be revealed to the hearings officer in writing, but shall remain confidential.

(8)

In order for the hearings officer to rely on the testimony of a confidential informant, information must be submitted to the hearings officer from which the hearings officer can find that the informant is a person who can be believed or that the information provided in the case at issue is truthful.

(9)

At the conclusion of the hearing, the hearings officer will deliberate and determine whether by clear and convincing evidence that the inmate is a mentally ill person as defined in ORS 426.005 (Definitions for ORS 426.005 to 426.390) and will be administratively committed involuntarily to a state mental hospital. The hearings officer may postpone the rendering of a decision for a reasonable period of time, not to exceed three working days from the date of hearing, for the purpose of reviewing the evidence.

(10)

An inmate subject to an administrative commitment to a state mental hospital has the rights to which persons are entitled under ORS 179.485 (Rights of person transferred to institution for persons with mental illness or intellectual disabilities).
Last Updated

Jun. 8, 2021

Rule 291-047-0061’s source at or​.us