{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-202a.041","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 202A.041","heading":"Emergency admission by law enforcement.","body":"(1) Any peace officer who has reasonable grounds to believe that an individual is\nmentally ill and presents a danger or threat of danger to self, family, or others if not\nrestrained may take the individual into custody and transport the individual without\nunnecessary delay to a hospital or psychiatric facility designated by the cabinet for\nthe purpose of an evaluation to be conducted by a contract mental health evaluator.\nUpon transport of the person to the hospital or psychiatric facility, the peace officer\nshall provide written documentation which describes the behavior of the person\nwhich caused the peace officer to take the person into custody. If, after evaluation,\nthe contract mental health evaluator finds that the person does not meet the criteria\nfor inv oluntary hospitalization, the person shall be released immediately and\ntransported back to the person's home county by an appropriate means of\ntransportation as provided in KRS 202A.101. If, after evaluation, the contract\nmental health evaluator finds that  the person meets the criteria for involuntary\nhospitalization, appropriate proceedings under this chapter shall be initiated. The\nperson may be held pending certification by a contract mental health evaluator and\nimplementation of procedures as provided i n KRS 202A.028, 202A.031, or\n202A.051 for a period not to exceed eighteen (18) hours.\n(2) When a peace officer has custody of an individual at a post, sheriff's office, or\npolice department pursuant to this section, and is required to maintain custody of\nthe individual for more than three (3) hours after requesting evaluation by a contract\nmental health evaluator designated by the cabinet to conduct evaluations prior to\nadmission to a hospital or psychiatric facility, state compensation shall be reduced\nby five percent (5%) for every ten (10) minutes the sheriff or other peace officer\nwith custody over the person is required to remain with the person after first delay\nof contact as documented by the sheriff or other peace officer.\n(3) If, after the evaluatio n, the contract mental health evaluator finds that the person\ndoes not meet the criteria for involuntary hospitalization and the peace officer has\nprobable cause to believe that the person has committed a criminal offense, the\npeace officer may swear out a  warrant and take the arrested person without\nunnecessary delay before a judge.","path":["KRS Chapter 202A"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=54928","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:51:58Z","sha256":"419e7c7472b48c1f3ea7c085c06dd7a5d64772580b56cb17b3fdfbfb32671d7d","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-202a.040","next":"us-ky/krs-202a.050"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}