(A) A person admitted or committed to the services of the Office of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities remains a client and is eligible for services until discharged. When the office determines that a client admitted to services is no longer in need of them, the office director or his designee may discharge him. When the only basis of the office's provision of services to a client is that he is a person with intellectual disability or a related disability and it is determined that he is no longer in that condition, the office director or his designee shall discharge him as soon as practical. A client of the office who is receiving residential services may be released to his spouse, parent, guardian, or relative or another suitable person for a time and under conditions the office director or his designee may prescribe. (B) When a client voluntarily admitted requests discharge or the person upon whose application the client was admitted to the office's services requests discharge in writing, the client may be detained by the office for no more than ninety-six hours. However, if the condition of the person is considered by the office director or his designee to be such that he cannot be discharged with safety to himself or with safety to the general public, the office director or his designee may postpone the requested discharge for not more than fifteen days and cause to be filed an application for judicial admission. For the purpose of this section, the Probate Court or Family Court of the county in which the facility where the person with intellectual disability or a related disability resides is located is the venue for judicial admission. Pending a final determination on the application, the court shall order the person with intellectual disability or a related disability placed in protective custody in either a facility of the office or in some other suitable place designated by the court. Code Commissioner's Note At the direction of the Code Commissioner, certain references in the S.C. Code to the State Department of Mental Health, South Carolina Mental Health Commission, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs Commission, Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, and other related terms were changed to reflect the restructuring of these agencies into component offices under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, pursuant to 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 18.
‹ Prev All South Carolina sections Next ›
Lexace provides legal information, not legal advice, and no attorney–client relationship is created. Statute text is provided for general information and may not reflect the most recent amendments; verify against the official state code.