Louisiana Advisory Committee

Current Topic

The Role of Coroners in Involuntary Commitments

The Louisiana Advisory (Committee) seeks to examine involuntary commitment and related due process protections for persons experiencing mental health emergencies in the state. Louisiana is currently the only state in the country that allows a medical examiner or coroner to issue an emergency certificate allowing a person to be involuntarily admitted and confined to a mental health treatment for a period of up to 15 days. From a civil rights perspective, the Committee will consider due process and equal protection concerns facing individuals experiencing mental health crises in the state of Louisiana on the basis of disability, as well as potential civil rights concerns on the basis of race, color, or national origin.