There has been an Attorney General Opinion that has prevented county attorneys from being involved in the commitment of alcoholics/individuals with significant chemical dependency issues. So, when we receive calls of concern from family, we can only refer them to private counsel or suggest they do this pro se. As a result many people who might need commitment don't have anything done. It would be good to have this as an option, however, the other issues include the availability of public services, transportation etc. We would likely do these as we do the other commitments but there are related costs. There is a provision to seems to indicate that the statute could be applied to people with drug addiction, MCA § 53-24-301, but it isn't clear. My view is that it should be permitted to request commitment for persons with any type of chemical dependency, alcohol, drugs (both prescribed and illegal), etc. but legislators may not want to go that far. - Leslie
This bill is typical of many that impose new duties on local government but provide no funding to make sure that the resources are there to do the job.
Leslie Halligan wrote:
ReplyDeleteThere has been an Attorney General Opinion that has prevented county attorneys from being involved in the commitment of alcoholics/individuals with significant chemical dependency issues. So, when we receive calls of concern from family, we can only refer them to private counsel or suggest they do this pro se. As a result many people who might need commitment don't have anything done. It would be good to have this as an option, however, the other issues include the availability of public services, transportation etc. We would likely do these as we do the other commitments but there are related costs. There is a provision to seems to indicate that the statute could be applied to people with drug addiction, MCA § 53-24-301, but it isn't clear. My view is that it should be permitted to request commitment for persons with any type of chemical dependency, alcohol, drugs (both prescribed and illegal), etc. but legislators may not want to go that far.
- Leslie
This bill is typical of many that impose new duties on local government but provide no funding to make sure that the resources are there to do the job.
ReplyDeleteFred Van Valkenbug
Missoula County Attorney