Nothing in this chapter prohibits a resident from filing a petition for release pursuant to this chapter. However, if a resident has previously filed a petition for release without the approval of the Office Director of the Office of Mental Health, and the court determined either upon review of the petition or following a hearing that the resident's petition was frivolous or that the resident's condition had not changed so that the resident continued to be a threat and, if released, would commit acts of sexual violence, the court must deny the subsequent petition unless the petition contains facts upon which a court could find the condition of the resident had so changed that a hearing was warranted. Upon receipt of a first or subsequent petition from a resident without the office director's approval, the court must, whenever possible, review the petition and determine if the petition is based upon frivolous grounds and, if so, must deny the petition without a hearing.

HISTORY: 1998 Act No. 321, SECTION 1; 2004 Act No. 176, SECTION 1, eff February 18, 2004; 2023 Act No. 19 (S.146), SECTION 11, eff May 16, 2023.

Code Commissioner's Note

At the direction of the Code Commissioner, certain references in the S.C. Code to the State Department of Mental Health, South Carolina Mental Health Commission, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs, Department of Disabilities and Special Needs Commission, Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, and other related terms were changed to reflect the restructuring of these agencies into component offices under the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities, pursuant to 2025 Act No. 3, SECTION 18.

Effect of Amendment

2023 Act No. 19, SECTION 11, in the first and second sentences, substituted "resident" for "person", in the second sentence, substituted "resident's" for "petitioner's" and "resident" for "petitioner" in two places, and in the third sentence, substituted "resident" for "committed person".