- 1. The hearing for a ninety-day inpatient detention and treatment period or for outpatient detention and treatment for a period not to exceed one hundred eighty days shall be conducted in as informal a manner as may be consistent with orderly procedure and in a physical setting not likely to have a harmful effect on the mental health of the respondent. If a jury trial is not requested, due consideration shall be given by the court to holding a hearing at the mental health program. The hearing shall be held in accordance with the provisions set forth in section 632.335.
- 2. The burden of proof at the hearing shall be by clear and convincing evidence and shall be upon the petitioner.
- 3. If the matter is tried before a jury, the jury shall determine and shall be instructed only upon the issues of whether or not the respondent is mentally ill and, as a result, presents a likelihood of serious harm to himself or others. The remaining procedures for the jury trial shall be as in other civil matters.
- 4. The respondent shall not be required to file an answer or other responsive pleading.
- 5. At the conclusion of the hearing, if the court or jury finds that the respondent, as the result of mental illness, presents a likelihood of serious harm to himself or to others, and the court finds that a program appropriate to handle the respondent's condition has agreed to accept him, the court shall order the respondent to be detained for involuntary treatment in the least restrictive environment for a period not to exceed ninety days or for outpatient detention and treatment under the supervision of a mental health program in the least restrictive environment for a period not to exceed one hundred eighty days.
(L. 1980 H.B. 1724, A.L. 1996 S.B. 884 & 841)