Seal.

submit to the trustees at each of their quarterly meetings, for their examination and approval. Such settlement of accounts shall be made by the board of trustees in open session, and shall not be entrusted to a committee. The trustees shall, after examining and approving such vouchers, file one set of them with the auditor of state. The books and papers of the steward and treasurer shail be open at all times to the inspection of any one of the trustees, state officers, or members of the general assembly.

[As amended, by inserting the words "and superintendent" in the second line, 15th G. A., ch. 53, § 1.]

SEC. 1393. The superintendent shall provide an official seal, 13 G. A. ch. 109, upon which shall be inscribed the statute name of the hospital under his charge, and the name of the state.

713.

sicians.

SEC. 1394. The assistant physicians shall be medical men of Assistant phy- such character and qualifications as to be able to perform the ordinary duties of the superintendent during his necessary absence, or inability to act.

Same, 14.

Who may be: judge of circuit Court to ap

COMMISSIONERS OF INSANITY.

SEC. 1395. In each county there shall be a board of three commisioners of insanity. The clerk of the circuit court shall be a member of such board and clerk of the same. The other members shall be appointed by the judge of said court. One of 12 G. A. ch. 179, them shall be a respectable practicing physician and the other a

point.

Same, 2 15.

82 1-6.

court.

respectable practicing lawyer; and the appointment shall be made of persons residing as convenient as may be to the county seat. Such appointment may be made during the session of the court or in vacation; and, if made in vacation, it shall be by written order, signed by the judge and recorded by the clerk of the The appointment shall be for two years, and so that the term of one commissioner shall expire every year. The appointment of successors may be made at any time within three months prior to the expiration of the term of the incumbent, who shall hold his office until his successor is appointed and qualified. In the temporary absence or inability to act of two commissioners, the judge of the circuit court, if present, may act in the room of one, or the commissioner present may call to his aid a respectable practicing physician or lawyer, who, after qualifying as in her cases, may act in the same capacity. The record in such cases must show the facts.

SEC. 1396. They shall organize by choosing one of their num ber president. They shall hold their meetings for business at the office of the clerk of said court, unless, for good reasons, they shall fix on some other place, and shall also meet on notice from the clerk.

SEC. 1397. The clerk of said board of commissioners shall sign and issue all notices, appointments, warrants, subpoenas, or other process required to be given or issued by the commissioners, affixing thereto his seal as clerk of the circuit court. He shall file and preserve in his office all papers connected with any inquest by the commissioners, and properly belonging to his office, with all notices, reports, and other communications. He shall keep separate books

in which to minute the proceedings of the board, and his entries therein shall be sufficiently full to show, with the papers filed, a complete record of their findings, orders and transactions. The notices, reports, and communications herein required to be given or made, may be sent by mail, unless otherwise expressed or implied; and the facts and date of such sending and their reception, must be noted on the proper record.

SEC. 1398. The said commissioners shall have cognizance of Jurisdiction all applications for admission to the hospital, or for the safe keep- and power. ing otherwise of insane persons within their respective counties, 12 G. A. ch. 179, excepting in cases otherwise especially provided for. For the 1-6. purpose of discharging the duties required of them, they shall have power to issue subpoenas and compel obedience thereto, to administer oaths, and do any act of a court necessary and proper in the premises.

Same, 2 19.

SEC. 1399. Applications for admission to the hospital must be Applications made in the form of an information, verified by affidavit, alleging for admission. that the person in whose behalf the application is made, is be- 12 G. A. ch. 179, lieved by the informant to be insane, and a fit subject for cus- § 1-6. tody and treatment in the hospital; that such a person is found in the county, and has a legal settlement therein, if such is known to be the fact; and, if such settlement is not in the county, where it is, if known; or where it is believed to be, if the informant is advised on the subject.

warrant: certi

Same, ? 20.

SEC. 1400. On the filing of such information, the commission- Investigation: ers may examine the informant, under oath, and if satisfied there ficate of physi is reasonable cause therefor, shall at once investigate the grounds cian. thereof. For this purpose they may require that the person for 12 G. A. ch. 179, whom such admission is sought be brought before them, and that 2 1-6. the examination be had in his presence; and they may issue their warrant therefor, and provide for the suitable custody of such person until their investigation shall be concluded. Such warrant may be executed by the sheriff, or any constable of the county; or, if they shall be of opinion, from such preliminary inquiries as they may make-and in making which they shall take the testimony of the informant, if they deem it necessary or desirable, and of other witnesses if offered, that such course would probably be injurious to such person, or attended with no advantage, they may dispense with such presence. In their examination they shall hear testimony for and against such application, if any is offered. Any citizen of the county, or any relative of the person alleged to be insane, may appear and resist the application, and the parties may appear by counsel, if they elect. The commissioners, whether they dispense with the presence before them of such person or not, shall appoint some regular practicing physician of the county to visit such person and make a personal examination touching the truth of the information, and the actual condition of such person, and forthwith report to them thereon. Such physician may, or may not, be of their own number; and the physician so appointed and acting shall certify, under his hand, that he has, in pursuance of his appointment, made a careful personal examination as required; and that, on such examination, he finds the person in question insane, if such is the fact, and if otherwise, not insane; and in connection with his examination the said physician

Finding of commissioners. Same, 21.

221-6.

Discharge.

Execution of.

shall endeavor to obtain from the relatives of the person in question, or from others who know the facts, correct answers, so far as may be, to the interrogatories hereinafter required to be propounded in such cases, which interrogatories and answers shall be attached to his certificate.

The interrogatories and answers to whether the party was insane preappended to the certificate of the phy-vious to the examination: Butler v. sician are not competent evidence as St. Louis Life Ins. Co., 45-93, 93.

SEC. 1401. On the return of the physician's certificate, the commissioners shall, as soon as practicable, conclude their investigation, and shall find whether the person alleged to be insane, is 12 G. A. ch. 179, insane; whether, if insane, a fit subject for treatment and custody in the hospital; whether the legal settlement of such person is in their county, and, if not in their county, where it is, if ascertained. If they find such person is not insane, they shall order his immediate discharge, if in custody. If they find such person insane, and a fit subject for custody and treatment in the hospital, they shall order said person to be committed to the hospital, and unless said person so found to be insane (or some one in his or her behalf) shall appeal from the finding of said commissioners, they sha'l Issue warrant. forthwith issue their warrant, and a duplicate thereof, stating such finding, with the settlement of the person, if found; and, if not found, their information, if any, in regard thereto, authorizing the superintendent of the hospital to receive and keep such person as a patient therein. Said warrant and duplicate, with the certificate and finding of the physician, shall be delivered to the sheriff, of the county, who shall execute the same by conveying such person to the hospital, and delivering him, with such duplicate. and physician's certificate, and finding, to the superintendent thereof. Superintendent The superintendent, over his official signature, shall acknowledge such delivery on the original warrant, which the sheriff shall return to the clerk of the commissioners, with his costs and expenses endorsed thereon. If neither the sheriff nor his deputy is at hand, or if both are otherwise engaged, the commissioners may appoint some other suitable person to execute the warrant in his stead, who shall take and subscribe an oath faithfully to discharge his duty, and shall be entitled to the same fees as the sheriff. The sheriff, or any other person so appointed, may take to his aid such assistance as he may need to execute such warrant; but no female shall thus be taken to the hospital without the attendance of some other female, or some relative. The superintendent, in his acknowledgment of delivery, must state whether there was any such person in attendance, and give the name or names, if any. But if any relative or immediate friend of the patient who is a suitable person, shall so request, he shall have the privilege of executing such warrant in preference to the sheriff, or any other person, and without taking such oath; and for so doing he shall be entitled to his necessary expenses but to no fees. The requirements of this and preceding sections are modified by the provisions of the next section.

to acknowl

edge.

Female: how taken.

Relative may execute warrant.

[As amended, so as to provide for an appeal; 18th G. A., ch. 152, § 6; the other sections of the act being inserted following.]

[Eighteenth General Assembly, Chapter 152.]

missioners.

SEC. 1. Any person found to be insane by the commissioners of Appeal from insanity, may appeal to the circuit court by giving the clerk of finding of comsaid court notice in writing that he or she appeals from said finding, which notice may be signed by the party, his or her attorney, agent or guardian.

SEC. 2. Such appeal may be taken at any time within ten days How taken. after the filing of the finding of said commissioners.

SEC. 3. The cause, when thus appealed, shall be placed upon Trial of the ap the docket by the clerk of said court, and stand for trial anew in peal.

the circuit court.

SEC. 4. If any person found to be insane by the commissioners Custody pendof insanity takes an appeal from such finding, such person shall ing the appeal. be discharged from custody pending such appeal, unless the commissioners, for any reason, find that such person cannot, with safety, be allowed to go at large, in which case they shall require that such patient shall be provided for, as provided in section fourteen hundred and three of the code, until such appeal can be tried and determined.

SEC. 5. If, upon the trial, such person is found not insane, Final order. the court shall order his or her immediate discharge, if in custody. If such person is found to be insane, and a fit subject for custody and treatment in the hospita!, the court shall order that such person be committed to the hospital, and the clerk of the court shall issue a warrant to carry said finding and order into effect, which warrant and the proceedings on and under it, shall be substantially the same as are provided for in section fourteen hundred and one, of chapter 2, title 11, of the code. [Sec. 6 amends § 1401; which see.]

SEC. 1402. If the commissioners find that the person so committed to the hospital has, or probably has, a legal settlement in some other county, they shall immediately notify the auditor of such county of such finding and commitment; and the auditor so notified shall thereupon inquire and ascertain, if possible, whether the person in question has a legal settlement in that county, and shall immediately notify the superintendent of the hospital and the commissioners of the county from which such person was committed, of the result of such inquiry. If the legal settlement of a person so committed cannot for a time be ascertained, and is afterwards found, the notices so required shall then be given.

When settlement is in anproceedings.

other county:

Same, & 22.

20

SEC. 1403. If any person found to be insane and a fit subject when person for custody and treatment in the hospital, cannot at once be cannot be sent to hospital: admitted therein for want of room, or for any other cause, and special custod cannot with safety be allowed to go at liberty, the commissioners an appointed. shall require that such patient shall be suitably provided for otherwise until such admission can be had, or until the occasion there for no longer exists. Such patients may be cared for either as private or as public patients. Those shall be treated as private patients, whose relations or friends will obligate themselves to take care of and provide for them without public charge. In such case, the commissioners shall appoint some suitable person a special custodian, who shall have authority, and who shall, in all suitable ways, restrain, protect, and care for such

patient, in such manner as to best secure his safety and comfort, and to best protect the person and property of others. In the case of public patients, the commissioners shall require that they be in like manner restrained, protected, and cared for by the board of supervisors at the expense of the county, and they may, accordingly, issue their warrant to such board, who shall forthwith comply with the same. If there is no poor-house for the reception of such patients, or if no more suitable place can be found, they may be confined in the jail of the county in charge of the sheriff. SEC. 1404. On application to the commissioners in behalf of sion to hospital persons alleged to be insane, and whose admission to the hospital is not sought, made substantially in the manner above prescribed,. and asking that provision be made for their care as insane-either public or private-within the county, and on proof of their insanity and need of care as above pointed out, the commissioners may provide for their restraint, protection and care, as in the case of other applications.

When admis

is not desired. Same, 29.

from want of

SEC. 1405. On information laid before the commissioners of When suffering any county that a certain insane person in the county is suffering for want of proper care, they shall forthwith inquire into the matter, and, if they find the information well founded, they shall make all needful provisions for the care of such person, as provided in other cases.

care.

Same, 30.

12 G. A. ch. 179.

May be trans

ferred to hospital.

SEC. 1406. Insane persons who have been under care, either as public or private patients, outside of the hospital, by authority of the commissioners of any county, may, on application to that 13 G. A. ch. 109, effect, be transferred to the hospital whenever they can be admit ted thereto, on the warrant of such commissioners. Such admission may be had without another inquest, at any time within six months after the inquest already had, unless the commissioner shall deem further inquest advisable.

€ 33.

Interrogato

ries to be answered.

Same, ¿ 34.

SEC. 1407. In each case of application for admission to the hospital, correct answers to the following interrogatories, so far as they can be obtained, shall accompany the physician's certificate; and if, on further examination after the answers are stated, any of them are found to be erroneous, the commissioners shall cause them to be corrected:

༥.

What is the patient's name and age? Married or single? If any children, how many? Age of youngest child?

What has been the patient's occupation?

5.

Is this the first attack? If not, when did the others occur, and what was their duration?

6. When were the first symptoms of this attack manifested, and in what way?

7. Does the disease appear to be increasing, decreasing, or stationary?

8. Is the disease variable, and are there rational intervals? If so, do they occur at regular periods?

9. On what subjects, or in what way is derangement now manifested? State fully.

10.

11.

Has the patient shown any disposition to injure others? Has suicide ever been attempted? If so, in what way? Is the propensity now active?