1. 1. When a person is admitted to a division facility or hospital under one of the various forms of admission prescribed by law, the parent or legal guardian of a person in a mental health crisis who is a minor or the spouse of a person in a mental health crisis, if of sufficient ability, and the estate of the person in a mental health crisis, if the estate is sufficient for the purpose, shall pay the cost of the maintenance for the person in a mental health crisis, including treatment and surgical operations, in any hospital in which the person is hospitalized under the provisions of this chapter:

   1. (a) To the administrative officer if the person is admitted to a division facility; or
   2. (b) In all other cases, to the hospital rendering the service.
2. 2. If a person or an estate liable for the care, maintenance and support of a committed person neglects or refuses to pay the administrative officer or the hospital rendering the service, the State is entitled to recover, by appropriate legal action, all money owed to a division facility or which the State has paid to a hospital for the care of a committed person, plus interest at the rate established pursuant to NRS 99.040.

(Added to NRS by 1975, 1614; A 1987, 1446; 1993, 1240; 2017, 790)