Section 9.27. Involuntary admission on medical certification

(a)  The  director  of  a hospital may receive and retain therein as a
  patient any person alleged to be mentally ill and in need of involuntary
  care and treatment upon the certificates of  two  examining  physicians,
  accompanied  by  an  application  for  the admission of such person. The
  examination may be conducted jointly but each examining physician  shall
  execute a separate certificate.
    (b)  Such application must have been executed within ten days prior to
  such admission. It may be executed by any one of the following:
    1. any person with whom the person alleged to be mentally ill resides.
    2. the father or mother, husband or wife, brother or  sister,  or  the
  child of any such person or the nearest available relative.
    3. the committee of such person.
    4.  an officer of any public or well recognized charitable institution
  or agency or home, including but not limited to the superintendent of  a
  correctional  facility,  as  such  term  is  defined in paragraph (a) of
  subdivision four  of  section  two  of  the  correction  law,  in  whose
  institution the person alleged to be mentally ill resides.
    5.  the director of community services or social services official, as
  defined in the social services law, of the city or county in  which  any
  such person may be.
    6.  the  director of the hospital or of a general hospital, as defined
  in article twenty-eight of the public health law, in which  the  patient
  is hospitalized.
    7.  the  director  or person in charge of a facility providing care to
  alcoholics, or substance abusers or substance dependent persons.
    8. the director of the division for youth, acting in  accordance  with
  the provisions of section five hundred nine of the executive law.
    9.  subject to the terms of any court order or any instrument executed
  pursuant to section three hundred eighty-four-a of the  social  services
  law, a social services official or authorized agency which has, pursuant
  to the social services law, care and custody or guardianship and custody
  of a child over the age of sixteen.
    10.  subject to the terms of any court order a person or entity having
  custody of a child pursuant to an order issued pursuant to section seven
  hundred fifty-six or one thousand fifty-five of the family court act.
    11. a qualified psychiatrist who is either supervising  the  treatment
  of  or  treating such person for a mental illness in a facility licensed
  or operated by the office of mental health.
    (c) Such application shall contain a statement of the facts upon which
  the allegation of mental illness and need for  care  and  treatment  are
  based  and  shall  be  executed  under  penalty of perjury but shall not
  require the signature of a notary public thereon.
    (d)  Before  an  examining  physician  completes  the  certificate  of
  examination  of  a  person  for involuntary care and treatment, he shall
  consider alternative forms of care and treatment that might be  adequate
  to   provide  for  the  person's  needs  without  requiring  involuntary
  hospitalization. If the examining physician knows that the person he  is
  examining  for  involuntary  care  and  treatment  has  been under prior
  treatment, he shall, insofar as possible, consult with the physician  or
  psychologist  furnishing  such  prior  treatment prior to completing his
  certificate. Nothing in this section shall prohibit  or  invalidate  any
  involuntary  admission  made  in  accordance with the provisions of this
  chapter.
    (e) The director of the hospital where such person  is  brought  shall
  cause such person to be examined forthwith by a physician who shall be a
  member of the psychiatric staff of such hospital other than the original
  examining  physicians  whose certificate or certificates accompanied the

  application and, if such person is found to be in  need  of  involuntary
  care  and  treatment,  he may be admitted thereto as a patient as herein
  provided.
    (f)  Following  admission  to  a  hospital,  no patient may be sent to
  another hospital by any form of involuntary admission unless the  mental
  hygiene legal service has been given notice thereof.
    (g)  Applications for involuntary admission of patients to residential
  treatment facilities for children and youth or transfer of involuntarily
  admitted  patients  to  such  facilities  shall  be  reviewed   by   the
  pre-admission   certification   committee   serving   such  facility  in
  accordance with section 9.51 of this article.
    (h) If a person is examined and determined to  be  mentally  ill,  the
  fact  that such person suffers from alcohol or substance abuse shall not
  preclude commitment under this section.
    (i) After an application for  the  admission  of  a  person  has  been
  completed  and  both physicians have examined such person and separately
  certified that he or she is mentally ill and in need of involuntary care
  and treatment in a hospital, either physician is authorized  to  request
  peace  officers, when acting pursuant to their special duties, or police
  officers, who are members of an authorized police department or force or
  of a sheriff's department, to  take  into  custody  and  transport  such
  person  to  a  hospital  for  determination by the director whether such
  person qualifies for  admission  pursuant  to  this  section.  Upon  the
  request  of  either  physician  an  ambulance  service,  as  defined  by
  subdivision two of section three thousand one of the public health  law,
  is  authorized  to transport such person to a hospital for determination
  by the director whether such person qualifies for admission pursuant  to
  this section.