Taken In For An Evaluation
ORC 5122 — custody that is not an arrest
Police custody is not always an arrest. Ohio has a second kind, run through the probate court rather than the criminal one, and a person can go through the whole of it without ever being charged with anything. It is widely called a pink slip. The law calls it emergency hospitalization.
A police officer or sheriff may take a person into custody and transport them to a hospital where the officer has reason to believe the 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 left at liberty pending examination. The statute gives the same authority to several others, including a psychiatrist, a licensed clinical psychologist, a licensed physician, a health officer and a parole officer.
- The person taking custody must say who they are.
- They must say that the person is not being arrested for a crime.
- They must say that the person is being taken to a facility to be examined.
| Stage | Clock | What the section requires |
|---|---|---|
| Taken into custody and examined | Up to seventy two hours, counted in court days | Release, or an affidavit filed with the probate court |
| Affidavit filed | Any person may file it | It must name the statutory category and state facts enough for probable cause |
| Court refers it for investigation | Within two business days of receiving it | To the local board, or the provider the board designates |
| Initial hearing | Within five court days of detention or the affidavit, whichever came first | Held in a setting not likely to be harmful, which may be the hospital |
| Full hearing | After the initial hearing | Discharge unless the court finds by clear and convincing evidence |
Seventy two hours is not three days. The hold is counted in court days, so a Friday afternoon and a holiday weekend are not the same length of time as a Tuesday, and the number people repeat is shorter than the stay it describes.
- A respondent who cannot obtain an attorney is represented by court appointed counsel.
- Where the respondent is indigent, appointed counsel and an independent expert evaluation are provided at public expense.
- An independent expert evaluation means one by a licensed clinical psychologist, psychiatrist or licensed physician chosen by the respondent or their counsel, who agrees to do it.
- At the full hearing the court must order discharge unless it finds by clear and convincing evidence that the respondent is a person with a mental illness subject to court order.
Everything here is the statutory floor. Hospitals, county boards and probate courts each run their own procedures on top of it, and a crisis is not a good moment to be reading a statute. This section exists so the words on the paperwork afterwards mean something.
Sources for this section (7)
- ORC 5122.10 — Emergency hospitalization, and who may take a person into custody
- ORC 5122.01 — Definitions, including person with a mental illness subject to court order
- ORC 5122.15 — Full hearing, counsel, and the standard of proof
- ORC 5122.11 — Affidavit filed with the probate court
- ORC 5122.13 — Referral of the affidavit for investigation
- ORC 5122.141 — Initial hearing, and when it must happen
- ORC 5122.43 — Costs of appointed counsel and independent evaluation for an indigent respondent
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Talk to a licensed Ohio attorney about your situation.