Does Ohio Have a Baker Act?
No. The Baker Act is a Florida law. The section of Florida’s statutes that names it says “This part shall be known as” the Florida Mental Health Act or the Baker Act.
Ohio’s law on the same subject is Chapter 5122 of the Ohio Revised Code. The part people usually mean when they say Baker Act is section 5122.10, which the code titles “Emergency hospitalization.”
Ohioans have their own names for it. Ohio Legal Help, a legal aid site, lists them: emergency hospitalization, pink slipping, “a 72-hour hold or a 3-day hold.” Disability Rights Ohio describes pink slipping as “An informal term for involuntary Emergency Hospitalization.”
Section 5122.10 itself does not contain the words pink slip, and it does not mention 72 hours.
This article reports what the statutes say. It is not legal advice, and it does not replace a lawyer or the probate court.
What Is the Baker Act?
The Baker Act is chapter 394 of the Florida Statutes. Its section on involuntary examination begins “A person may be taken to a receiving facility for involuntary examination if there is reason to believe that the person has a mental illness” and then lists the conditions.
Florida counts its limit in hours. The same section says “The examination period must be for up to 72 hours and begins when a patient arrives at the receiving facility.”
Ohio counts differently, as the sections below show.
What Is a Pink Slip in Ohio?
A pink slip is an emergency hospitalization under section 5122.10. The statute lets certain people take a person into custody and to a hospital when they have “reason to believe that a person is a person with a mental illness subject to court order and represents a substantial risk of physical harm to self or others if allowed to remain at liberty pending examination.”
The section also protects the person being taken:
- It is not an arrest. Whoever takes the person into custody has to explain who they are and “that the custody-taking is not a criminal arrest.”
- It should be done quietly. “Every reasonable and appropriate effort shall be made to take persons into custody in the least conspicuous manner possible.”
- The reasons go in writing. The hospital gets a written statement of the circumstances and the reasons, and “This statement shall be made available to the respondent or the respondent’s attorney upon request of either.”
Who Can Pink Slip Someone in Ohio?
Section 5122.10 names nine:
- a psychiatrist
- a licensed physician
- a licensed clinical psychologist
- a clinical nurse specialist certified as a psychiatric-mental health CNS
- a certified nurse practitioner certified as a psychiatric-mental health NP
- a health officer
- a parole officer
- a police officer
- a sheriff
A second paragraph of the section covers people on parole or under court supervision. They can be taken to a hospital by the chief of the adult parole authority, or by a parole or probation officer with the chief’s approval.
A family member is not on the list, and neither is a counselor or a social worker. A family member has a different route, through the probate court, described below.
How Long Is the Hold in Ohio? Is It 72 Hours?
Ohio’s statute sets two time limits, and neither one is 72 hours.
The first is for the examination. A person brought in under section 5122.10 “shall be examined by the staff of the hospital or services provider within twenty-four hours after arrival at the hospital or services provider.”
The second starts after the examination, and it depends on what the examination finds:
- If the chief clinical officer believes the person does not meet the standard, the officer “shall release or discharge the person immediately” unless a court has already issued a temporary order of detention.
- If the officer believes the person does meet it, the officer “may detain the person for not more than three court days following the day of the examination.”
During those three court days the person can agree to stay as a voluntary patient, or the hospital can file an affidavit with the probate court. If neither happens and no court order is in place, the officer “shall discharge the person at the end of the three-day period.” The statute makes one exception, for a person serving a prison sentence.
Court days are not calendar days. Ohio Legal Help explains: “Court days are Mondays through Fridays, not weekends or holidays.” Disability Rights Ohio says the same of the hospital: “they can keep you in the hospital for 3 court days after your initial examination.” So a hold that begins with an examination on a Friday can run into the middle of the next week, which is well past 72 hours.
Who Counts as a Person With a Mental Illness Subject to Court Order?
That phrase is the standard behind every step, and section 5122.01 defines it. Mental illness means “a substantial disorder of thought, mood, perception, orientation, or memory that grossly impairs judgment, behavior, capacity to recognize reality, or ability to meet the ordinary demands of life.”
A person is subject to court order when, because of that illness, at least one of these is true:
- Risk to self. The person “Represents a substantial risk of physical harm to self as manifested by evidence of threats of, or attempts at, suicide or serious self-inflicted bodily harm.”
- Risk to others, shown by “evidence of recent homicidal or other violent behavior,” recent threats, “or other evidence of present dangerousness.”
- Basic needs. The person cannot provide for basic physical needs, and “appropriate provision for those needs cannot be made immediately available in the community.”
- Need for treatment, shown by behavior that “creates a grave and imminent risk to substantial rights of others or the person.”
- A narrower fifth category, built on a history of not following treatment. The statute adds a limit to it: “An individual who meets only the criteria described in division (B)(5)(a) of this section is not subject to hospitalization.”
These definitions are about mental illness. Ohio deals with alcohol and drug use under a separate law, covered further down.
Can a Family Member Start the Process?
Yes, through the probate court. Section 5122.11 says proceedings “shall be commenced by the filing of an affidavit,” and that it may be filed “by any person or persons with the probate court.”
The affidavit has to give the court something to act on: “a statement of alleged facts sufficient to indicate probable cause to believe that the person is a person with a mental illness subject to court order.”
If the judge or referee finds probable cause, the court “may issue a temporary order of detention ordering any health or police officer or sheriff to take into custody and transport the person to a hospital,” or it “may set the matter for further hearing.”
Forms and local steps differ from county to county. The probate court in the county where the person lives can say what it asks for, and so can an attorney.
What Happens in Court?
The first hearing comes quickly. Under section 5122.141, “The hearing shall be conducted within five court days from the day on which the respondent is detained or an affidavit is filed, whichever occurs first.” The statute enforces the deadline: “Failure to conduct the hearing within this time shall effect an immediate discharge of the respondent.”
Section 5122.15 governs the full hearing and gives the person these protections:
- A lawyer and a second opinion. “The respondent shall be informed that the respondent may retain counsel and have independent expert evaluation.”
- Both at public expense for someone who cannot pay. “If the respondent is indigent, court-appointed counsel and independent expert evaluation shall be provided.”
- A high standard of proof. The court must find the person meets the definition “by clear and convincing evidence,” or order the person’s discharge.
When the court does find it, the order is limited in time and in kind. It runs “for a period not to exceed ninety days.” The places a court can choose include a hospital, a county board of alcohol, drug addiction and mental health services or a provider it names, and private care. The statute says “The court shall order the implementation of the least restrictive alternative available and consistent with treatment goals.” An order can be for care outside a hospital: the section provides for a person “receiving treatment in an outpatient setting.” It also says “A jail or other local correctional facility is not a suitable facility.”
What Rights Does a Person Have in the Hospital?
Section 5122.29 lists the rights of every patient hospitalized or committed under the chapter. Among them:
- “The right to a written list of all rights enumerated in this chapter”
- “reasonable access to telephones to make and receive confidential calls”
- “The right to communicate freely with and be visited at reasonable times by the patient’s private counsel or personnel of the Ohio protection and advocacy system”
Disability Rights Ohio is that protection and advocacy system. Its guide says: “You have the right to have an attorney represent you. If you can’t afford your own attorney, the court has to provide and pay for an attorney for you.”
An adult can also choose to be admitted. Section 5122.02 allows a voluntary application to a hospital, and under section 5122.03 a voluntary patient who asks in writing to leave “shall be released forthwith,” with exceptions. The main one lets the hospital’s chief clinical officer file an affidavit with the court within three court days.
What If the Problem Is Alcohol or Drugs?
Ohio has a separate law for that. Section 5119.91 says “A probate court may order involuntary treatment for a person experiencing alcohol and other drug abuse pursuant to the procedures set forth in sections 5119.90 to 5119.98 of the Revised Code.” It is often called Casey’s Law, and our guide to Casey’s Law in Ohio covers who can file and what the petition has to include.
It works differently from a pink slip:
- Family files. Under section 5119.93, “A spouse, relative, or guardian of the individual concerning whom the petition is filed shall file the petition.”
- The court needs to see danger. One of the three conditions in section 5119.92 is that “The person presents an imminent danger or imminent threat of danger to self, family, or others as a result of alcohol and other drug abuse, or there exists a substantial likelihood of such a threat in the near future.”
- A physician is expected to have seen the person. The petition comes with a certificate from a physician “who has examined the respondent within two days prior to the day that the petition is filed in the probate court.” If the person refuses to be examined, the petition says so and no certificate is required.
- Treatment has to be arranged and partly paid for in advance. One way the statute allows is “A security deposit to be deposited with the clerk of the probate court that will cover half of the estimated cost of treatment of the respondent.” Insurance that covers at least half is another.
Treatment under this law is not always a hospital stay. Section 5119.90 defines it to include “residential treatment, a halfway house setting, and an intensive outpatient or outpatient level of care.”
This is also the one place where Ohio law uses the number people remember. Under section 5119.95, “a probate court may order the person hospitalized for a period not to exceed seventy-two hours” when it finds an imminent threat of danger from alcohol or drug use.
Leora’s page for families says more about helping someone who does not want treatment.
Where Leora Behavioral Health Fits
A pink slip leads to a hospital. Leora Behavioral Health is an outpatient provider in Columbus and Dayton, and it does not provide emergency or overnight care.
Outpatient programs come in after the emergency has passed:
- Partial hospitalization runs Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 4:15 pm, and you sleep at home. Both facilities run a mental health track, a dual diagnosis track and a substance use track. Some people start it after an inpatient program elsewhere has discharged them.
- Intensive outpatient is three hours of group therapy a day, three to five days a week, with separate mental health and substance use tracks.
- Virtual IOP is available anywhere in Ohio, with a daytime program for mental health and an evening program for substance use.
If you are coming from a hospital or another program, bring your discharge plan to the assessment. Leora accepts every Ohio Medicaid plan and every commercial carrier, and admissions can check your coverage when you call. The mental health treatment page describes the programs in more detail.
If Someone Is in Danger Right Now
If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.
For a mental health or substance use crisis, call or text 988. The 988 Lifeline says of itself: “The 988 Lifeline is available 24/7/365.”
