118 STAT. 3472 PUBLIC LAW 108–450—DEC. 10, 2004 Public Law 108–450 108th Congress An Act To amend title 21, District of Columbia Official Code, to enact the provisions of the Mental Health Civil Commitment Act of 2002 which affect the Commission on Mental Health and require action by Congress in order to take effect. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ‘‘District of Columbia Mental Health Civil Commitment Modernization Act of 2004’’. SEC. 2. COMPOSITION, APPOINTMENT, AND ORGANIZATION OF COMMISSION ON MENTAL HEALTH. (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 21–502, District of Columbia Official Code, is amended to read as follows: ‘‘§ 21–502. Commission on Mental Health; composition; appointment and terms of members; organiza- tion; chairperson; salaries ‘‘(a) The Commission on Mental Health is continued. The Chief Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia shall appoint the members of the Commission, and the Commission shall be composed of 9 members and an alternate chairperson. One member shall be a magistrate judge of the Court appointed pursuant to title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, who shall be a member of the bar of the Court and has engaged in active practice of law in the District of Columbia for a period of at least 5 years prior to his or her appointment. The magistrate judge shall be the Chairperson of the Commission and act as the administrative head of the Commission. The Chairperson shall preside at all hearings and direct all of the proceedings before the Commission. Eight members of the Commission shall be psychiatrists or qualified psychologists, as those terms are defined in section 21–501, who have not had less than 5 years of experience in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. ‘‘(b)(1) Appointment of members of the Commission shall be for terms of 4 years. ‘‘(2) The initial appointment of a psychiatrist or a qualified psychologist shall be for a probationary period of one year. After the initial one-year probationary appointment, subsequent appoint- ments of the psychiatrist or qualified psychologist shall be for terms of 4 years. ‘‘(c) The psychiatrist or qualified psychologist members of the Commission shall serve on a part-time basis and shall be rotated by assignment of the Chief Judge of the Court, so that at any District of Columbia Mental Health Civil Commitment Modernization Act of 2004. Dec. 10, 2004 [H.R. 4302] VerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:54 Nov 10, 2005 Jkt 029194 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6580 Sfmt 6581 C:\STATUTES\2004\29194PT4.001 APPS10 PsN: 29194PT4
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