Taken In For An Evaluation
Minn. Stat. 253B.051 — an officer's hold of 12 hours, and an emergency hold of 72
In Minnesota, a peace officer or health officer who has reason to believe, from direct observation or reliable information about recent behavior, that a person has a mental illness or developmental disability and is in danger of harming self or others without immediate detention may take the person into custody and transport them to an examiner or a treatment facility or program.
- The officer makes a written application stating the reasons and circumstances of the custody, and a copy is made available to the person.
- As far as practicable, an officer who provides the transport is not in uniform and does not use a marked law enforcement vehicle.
- An examiner examines the person within 12 hours of arrival, and the officer's hold ends at 12 hours if nothing else has ended it first.
A facility may then place an emergency hold if its head consents and an examiner who examined the person not more than 15 days before admission gives a written statement with specific observations, not conclusions. The hold may last up to 72 hours, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, after the examiner signs the statement. The person is released when it expires unless a court orders otherwise, and a second emergency hold may not follow it.
Three rights given in writing. The facility gives the person a copy of the examiner's statement when the hold begins, and informs them in writing of the right to leave after 72 hours, to have a medical examination within 48 hours, and to request a change to voluntary status. The facility may not enroll the person in a clinical drug trial during the hold, and consent given during it is void.
The petition for commitment, the judicial hold a court may order, and the hearing are in other sections of the chapter and are not reproduced here. Whether a hold met the statute is a question for a court and for a licensed Minnesota attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- Minn. Stat. 253B.051 — Emergency admission
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Minnesota attorney.