1. (1) Adult in Custody: Any person under the supervision of the Department of Corrections who is not on parole, probation, or post-prison supervision status.
2. (2) Behavioral Health Services (BHS): A unit within Oregon Department of Corrections Health Services with primary responsibility for the assessment and treatment of adults in custody with mental illness and intellectual disabilities.
3. (3) Mental Health Provider: Any person employed by the department or engaged by contract with the department for the explicit purpose of providing mental health services.
4. (4) Self-Directed Violence: Behavior that is self-directed and deliberately results in injury or the potential for injury to oneself. Self-Directed Violence may be non-suicidal, suicidal or undetermined.
5. (5) Suicide Assessment: A brief but formal assessment of mental status, conducted by a mental health provider or by a registered nurse in consultation with a mental health provider, concluding with a judged level of suicidal risk.
6. (6) Suicide Close Observation: Unobstructed visual observation of the adult in custody is required at staggered intervals, not to exceed 15 minutes, with recorded observation within each 15-minute interval.

7. (7) Suicide Warning Signs: The following list provides some of the indicators of suicide potential:

   1. (a) Talk of suicide, threats of suicide;
   2. (b) Extreme sadness or crying;
   3. (c) Apathy, loss of interest in all or almost all people and activities;
   4. (d) Loss of appetite or weight;
   5. (e) Walking or completing tasks at an unusually slow speed;
   6. (f) Difficulty concentrating or thinking;
   7. (g) Sleep disturbances;
   8. (h) Emotional flatness; seems numb, non-reactive;
   9. (i) Difficulty carrying out routine tasks (for example, eating, dressing, etc.);
   10. (j) Tension and agitation; inability to relax or sit still, pacing, hand wringing;
   11. (k) Withdrawal, silent, uncommunicative;
   12. (l) Pessimistic attitude about the future;
   13. (m) Emotional outbursts, sudden expression of anger for no apparent reason; or
   14. (n) Feeling of hopelessness and helplessness.
8. (8) Suicide Watch: Continuous and unobstructed one-to-one view of the adult in custody is required at all times with recorded observation within each 15-minute interval.

Statutory/Other Authority

ORS 179.040, 423.020, 423.030 & 423.075

Statutes/Other Implemented

ORS 179.040, 423.020, 423.030 & 423.075

History

DOC 9-2026, amend filed 04/24/2026, effective 04/24/2026
DOC 20-2008, f. & cert. ef. 8-14-08
DOC 23-2000, f. & cert. ef. 11-6-00
CD 4-1997, f. & cert. ef. 2-12-97