The Mental Health Court is a division of the Statutory Probate Court. This court handles all involuntary commitments for residents of Denton County. All commitments done by this court are placed at The North Texas State Hospital, Wichita Falls Campus. Family members may pursue placement at a private facility, a bed letter from that facility must be submitted to the Court prior to any hearing.
All applications must be submitted to the Denton County District Attorney’s Office. The application process begins with the application packet. This packet consists of the Application for Involuntary Temporary Commitment, a Certificate of Medical Examination, and if needed an Affidavit of Inability. These will be available on the District Attorney’s website.
The Application
The application is to be filled out in as much detail as possible. The more information given, the more likely the application will be approved. The 3rd and the 5th pages must be notarized. You may fax the completed application and certificate of medical examination to the District Attorney’s Office. However the originals must be submitted to the court no later than the date of the hearing.
The second portion of the packet is the Certificate of Medical Examination. This must be completed by a doctor no later than five days before the application is submitted to the court. Without the Certificate of Medical Examination the application will be denied.
The final part of the application packet is the Affidavit of Inability. There is a $502 filing fee associated with a Mental Health application. If the proposed patient is an adult and cannot afford the fees; this affidavit may be filled out, notarized and submitted to the court before a ruling is made on the application. If granted the fees are waived.