Category: Marchman Act and Legal Guidance

While the Baker Act and Marchman Act can both be used to involuntarily commit individuals to treatment while they are in the midst of a mental health crisis, there are significant differences between the two acts and how each should be used.

To explain the contrast between the Baker Act and Marchman Act, we will explore, in depth, how each of these acts can be used to protect someone who is struggling with a serious mental health issue from substantial harm. The following criteria should help give you an idea of which act may be more effective when it comes to getting your loved one into the appropriate form of treatment.

Using The Baker Act To Help A Loved One With Mental Illness

The Baker Act is a Florida law that allows an individual to be held for up to 72 hours for an involuntary assessment if his or her mental illness poses a real and present threat of serious bodily harm to the individual themselves or to others. Such harm often involves the threat of suicide, or of such neglect to his or her well being that person’s ability to make a rational decision about their need for care must be called into question.

Generally, the Baker Act can only be initiated by a qualified professional. This could include a law enforcement officer, psychiatric nurses, or other behavioral health professionals who are familiar with the patient and the risk of physical harm that their mental health issue poses.

One may also technically use the Baker Act to directly petition for involuntary assessment to the court themselves, but this is done far more rarely. So, if you are concerned about someone who refuses to seek treatment or to agree to a voluntary examination, your best bet may be to call emergency services so that the law enforcement professional called to the scene can determine if a Baker Act is necessary.

If it is, and if the court can determine that the patient meets Baker Act criteria, the person will then undergo involuntary assessment, during which a mental health examination will be conducted by two different qualified professionals. If those professionals agree that the person is likely to cause harm to themselves or others, they will then recommend treatment.

The patient will then have another opportunity to agree to voluntary treatment. But, if they remain defiant, the court may enact an ex parte order forcing them into treatment if their refusal poses a clear threat to themselves or others. Court ordered treatment can be inpatient or outpatient, and can last until the person is determined to no longer be in danger.

Using The Marchman Act To Help A Loved One Struggling With Substance Abuse

The Marchman Act is a Florida law that allows for involuntary assessment and, potentially, involuntary treatment of a severely substance impaired person who has refused voluntary examination and/or voluntary treatment. Spouses and family members or law enforcement or mental health professionals may petition the court using the Marchman Act, in which case only a singular filer would be necessary. However, three people who have no specific relationship to the person but have direct personal knowledge of the person’s substance abuse may also jointly file a Marchman Act petition.

Once the loved one or professional can petition the court, the judge will then set a hearing to take place in the next ten days, unless an ex parte or emergency order is deemed necessary to request examination sooner. At the hearing, those who filed the petition for involuntary assessment will testify to the degree to which their substance abuse impaired loved one is incapacitated. For instance, they may describe how recent behavior like extreme self neglect points to a dangerous lack of self control.

If the judge rules that the person meets the criteria for involuntary assessment, the person can be taken into custody and taken to a licensed service provider equipped to handle Marchman Act patients. After an involuntary examination by this licensed service provider, which should be conducted by at least two mental health professionals, the person may be released if professionals determine that their drug use does not qualify them for involuntary services.

If the person does meet the criteria for involuntary treatment based on their initial assessment, they will first be given the opportunity to agree to substance abuse services voluntarily. If they do not, the administrator of the facility must file a new petition for involuntary services, which will result in another hearing. One of the mental health professionals who conducted the involuntary examination must testify at this hearing, though both sides can still call any other family member or loved one that they want as a witness.

If the judge finds that the person does meet the Marchman Act criteria for involuntary substance abuse treatment, and determines that a less restrictive form of treatment has a substantial likelihood being unable to help the person, the court may then order the person into treatment for a maximum of ninety days, with one potential ninety day renewal.

The Connection Between Mental Health Issues And Substance Abuse

The reason that the Baker Act and Marchman Act can sometimes both be applicable to certain situations is because drug addiction, also known as substance use disorder, is technically classified as a mental health disorder.

Thus, Florida citizens may be able to petition for involuntary assessment using either act for a person who is suffering from substance abuse impairment, and even someone initially court ordered to receive treatment under the Baker Act could theoretically be ordered to complete specialized substance abuse treatment if substance use appears to be their primary problem.

And, since mental health issues are known to be highly correlated with addiction, it is highly possible that a person who is in crisis due to their addiction may also be mentally ill. Fortunately, mental health services are also usually offered during addiction treatment, so a person who is ruled unable to exercise self control due to their addiction by the court under the Marchman Act and ultimately enters treatment will likely see their overall mental health improve as well.

However, while the Baker Act can be used on a person suffering from addiction, it does not work the other way around: you cannot use the Marchman Act in court to request examination or treatment for someone who is mentally ill but who is not abusing substances.

To learn more about the Marchman Act, the Baker Act, and which one might be applicable to your loved one, you can review these resources or call our hotline any time at 833-497-3808. We also offer such services as professional intervention counseling, and can help your family to file a Marchman Act petition if your loved one remains unwilling to consider treatment despite our best efforts.

If your loved one is currently struggling with addiction and you believe that they may qualify for involuntary examination under the Marchman Act in the near future, we can guide you through every step of the process, from your initial petition to your court hearing.

We can also assist you in finding a rehab center or private practitioner where your loved one can attend treatment if the intervention or petition is successful. To learn more about this or our other services, feel free to contact us anytime here.

While filing the Marchman Act is never an easy thing for a filing family member or their loved one, setting the Marchman Act process into motion is actually fairly simple, only requiring the filing of a Petition for Examination.

The specific procedure for filing this petition varies by county, but to look at Palm Beach County as an example, the petition takes the form of a five page document that requires “specific facts of recent behavior” to support your claim that your loved one is either a danger to themselves or a danger to others or too incapacitated by their substance abuse to recognize their need for care. 

Along with this description sheet, you will also be required you to fill out a date of birth form, notice of related cases, and cover sheet, and will need to get this petition notarized. Then, you will file it to unified family court. Palm Beach County requires no filing fees, but the person you are filing this petition for must be physically located in Palm Beach County at the time of filing. 

Then, in response to this petition, the judge may decide to set a hearing that will take place in the following ten days. Both the petitioner and the respondent are required to be at this hearing, which will determine whether assessment is necessary. The judge may also make an emergency or “exparte” order without hearing, which will take effect immediately. 

Then, law enforcement will be authorized to take the person into custody and to deliver them to the nearest Marchman Act receiving facility. This order will be good for the next seven days, unless the judge specifies that it should last for less. 

Then, the facility will have 72 hours to assess the patient. After that, they will release the patient if they do not meet the criteria for involuntary admission, release them for voluntary inpatient or outpatient treatment if the patient is amenable, or file a petition with the court to request involuntary services.

This petition can only be filed by the facility administrator, not the friend or family member who filed the initial petition for examination, and must include the written opinion of two psychiatrists or clinical psychologists, both of whom must have examined the patient face to face. It is also required that the evaluation prove that no less restrictive treatment option could reasonably be expected to improve the patient’s condition.

Another hearing will be set within five days of the filing of this second Petition for Involuntary Services, and the judge will assign the defendant a public defender unless they have a private attorney. One of the examining psychiatrists must provide testimony, and both sides can call any other witnesses that they wish to. 

Then, if the judge chooses to grant this petition, they will order that the defendant be retained at the facility that assessed them or transferred to a different one that is more appropriate to their needs. They will be ordered to remain in treatment for a period of up to 90 days, and the facility will have the option of filing an additional Petition for Involuntary Services for an extension of the order if they believe the patient requires any additional services. 

The ordered treatment can be inpatient or outpatient, and can only be required based on substance abuse, and not based on another mental health issue (in which case the Baker Act may be more appropriate.) It also cannot interfere with or substitute individual’s existing mental health treatment. 

It’s also worth noting that even inpatient treatment centers are not locked down facilities, so a defendant may choose to leave treatment of their own accord, though they will be risking legal consequences and even jail time if they choose to do so. In this case, a defendant may be ordered back to court for a  hearing that will determine whether they are found in contempt. 

You should also be aware that it will not be the court’s responsibility to find a bed and a receiving facility, or to pay for treatment. A Marchman Act petition also cannot interfere with a criminal case, be used to locate a missing person, or be used solely to make a child obey their parents, though parents can file on a child’s behalf.

For more information about what you can expect and what will be expected of you as you navigate the Marchman Act process, as well as how one of our skilled intervention counselors can guide you through the emotionally fraught proceedings, feel free to contact our helpline anytime at 833-497-3808, or to contact us online anytime here.

Someone who finds themselves considering the Marchman Act, the Florida statute that allows for the involuntary commitment of someone who has been abusing substances and meets certain other criteria, is not likely to be taking the matter lightly. Forcing treatment on a loved one is never pleasant for anyone involved, but, in some high-risk situations, it may be the best option to take to ensure their long-term health and safety. The following signs are some serious tip offs that your loved one may be spiraling out of control, and that your intervention may be required.

1. They Are Unable To Manage Their Own Lives

The further one falls into an addiction, the less able they will be to engage in life and attend to even sometimes their most basic responsibilities. Someone who is unable to maintain their professional, personal, or academic obligations due to their substance abuse—i. e., someone who is failing or dropping out of school, quitting or getting fired from a job, or mismanaging significant family responsibilities like childcare, is likely incapacitated enough that the Marchman Act should be seriously considered. 

This also holds true of someone who is only seemingly functional because you or others have been making excuses for them or covering up for their mistakes. The more profound someone’s withdrawal from or inability to cope with life is, the more concerned you should be.

2. Their Physical Health Is Deteriorating

If someone persists in their substance abuse despite the fact that it is causing them serious health consequences, intensive professional treatment is most likely needed. If someone refuses to stop or curtail their use even after showing clear signs of drug-related health issues—for instance, liver problems or cognitive impairment due to alcohol abuse— you absolutely have grounds to step in. 

You may also want to be aware of visual signals of a severe drug problem, such as someone who is seriously underweight. You might notice open sores from untreated wounds, possibly acquired from the injection of IV drugs, or that someone has stopped paying attention to even basic personal hygiene. 

3. They Are Engaging In Increasingly Risky Behavior

Whenever someone uses illicit drugs or abuses legal ones, they are putting themselves at at least some risk, but a pattern of escalating risk-taking demonstrates pretty clearly that that Marchman Act may be warranted. Along with the risks arising from drug use itself, you may notice that someone is engaging in unsafe sex while intoxicated, or engaging in behaviors that come with the risk of legal consequences to be able to abuse or afford drugs, like stealing, intoxicated driving, shoplifting, or even attempting to forge prescriptions. 

Another cause for alarm is escalation in the substance abuse itself: someone switching from snorting or smoking a substance to injecting it, from prescription opioids to a street drug like heroin, or from habitual use to constant intoxication. For certain drugs, and certain drug combinations, overdose is a very real threat that requires the utmost precautions be taken, even if that means involuntary commitment.

4. Their Behavior Or Mental State Has Become Increasingly Volatile

Someone who is out of control due to their addiction may demonstrate increasingly unpredictable behavior. They may appear inordinately depressed or worryingly grandiose or paranoid, going on crying jags or flying into rages at the drop of a hat. They might regularly be so high that they have trouble understanding what is going on or relating to you in any meaningful way, or may even appear be out of touch with reality altogether.

Additionally, you should also be concerned if someone who you believe is suffering from addiction suddenly disappears or becomes uncommunicative. It may be worth tracking them down and attempting to use the Marchman Act in case they have gone off the grid because they are in crisis, in which case you might be able to stop a dangerous spiral. 

5. They Show Signs Of Being A Danger To Themselves Or Others

Patterns of escalating use and increasing emotional instability tie into the most important sign it might be time to use the Marchman Act: if someone is clearly a danger to themselves or others. Danger to others can take the form of abuse or threats of abuse, or another actual or attempted crime, such a threat of harm if someone does not provide them with money for drugs.

It can also involve behaviors like drunk driving, or someone who is engaging in another dangerous activity while intoxicated (e.g. a doctor performing surgery, a pilot flying). Danger to others might also take the form of a parent who is routinely attempting to care for children while also showing signs that they are suffering from a serious substance abuse problem that impairs their judgement. 

As far as danger to oneself, along with neglect of one’s health or escalating drug use, you should beware of potential suicidality. Someone who describes wanting to die or states that they do not care if they do is raising a serious red flag, and in this case, the Baker Act might be an option as well.

As tragic cases like the one behind Casey’s Law indicate, it is far better safe than sorry if you are worried about someone who is exhibiting any of these signs or who is otherwise seriously incapacitated. For guidance on whether the Baker Act or the Marchman Act is more appropriate for your loved one, or for any other questions or inquiries about the Marchman Act and how to begin the process of filing a Marchman Act petition, feel free to call us any time at 833-497-3808, or to contact one of our skilled intervention counselors using this online form. 

If you’ve stumbled upon this site and read any of the other marvelous resources that we provide about Florida’s Marchman Act, you may already know that the statute allows for the involuntary commitment of someone whose impairment due to a substance use disorder has rendered them “unable to make rational decisions regarding treatment.” 

The Marchman Act also applies if someone who is impaired due to substance abuse has inflicted or attempted to inflict harm to themselves or to others. 

Now, there is a lot more fine print to the law than that, and its full text can be found on the official website for Florida’s legislature here if you’d like to look into the nitty gritty details.

But one thing that is relatively straightforward about the Marchman Act is the matter of who has the power to file it, and the thankfully short answer to that question is “almost anyone,” with a few notable qualifications. 

While you will have an easier time if you are the spouse, relative, or guardian of the person that you would like to enact a Marchman Act petition to protect, that is not the only way that the law offers concerned loved ones you to go about the matter.

If you have one of those first degree connections to the person who you seek to commit, you can serve as the sole petitioner for them, as can you if you are the parent, legal guardian, or legal custodian of a child under eighteen. 

But if you have some other relationship to the person you believe needs involuntary commitment due to their substance abuse, there’s no need to fear. Three unrelated adults who need not have any particular professional or personal association with the patient but who have “personal knowledge of a person’s substance abuse impairment,” can also file a Marchman Act petition. 

So, these three people could be friends, teachers, co-workers, non-spouse significant others, or really anyone to the patient, as long as all three are willing to go on the record and put in the work to testify as to the patient’s need for involuntary commitment due to their impairment from substance abuse. 

Medical professionals who have certain relationships to the patient who is impaired by substance abuse can also enact an emergency Marchman Act petition. These include the person’s therapist, their physician, or the director of a facility licensed under Chapter 397, Florida Statutes for the purposes of providing care and treatment for patients with substance abuse illnesses or his or her designee. 

Finally, a law enforcement officer who witnesses a patient exhibiting a need for substance abuse treatment “in a public place” or “in a way that attracts the officer’s attention,” can have them placed in protective custody for further evaluation under the Marchman Act. 

Calling law enforcement on someone who is behaving in this manner in the hopes of them initiating Marchman Act proceedings should be an absolute last resort, but, in certain cases, it may be an effective method of getting your loved one into treatment. 

In this sort of high stakes situation, it’s possible that the Baker Act may also apply. The Baker Act is another Florida statute dealing with involuntary commitment, but it generally covers a need for treatment relating to mental illness rather than relating to substance abuse. 

However, since mental illness and substance abuse can so often overlap, the Baker Act may sometimes be appropriate for someone whose impairment due to substance abuse has made them an immediate danger to themselves or others.

While a Baker Act can technically be filed directly to the court, it is much more commonly enacted by law enforcement officers, medical professionals, and mental health professionals who observe a patient’s potentially life threatening behavior. 

So, if you request the assistance of one of these professionals, most likely by calling emergency services, you may be able to play an important part in making them aware of the situation and ensuring that a Baker Act is enacted if it is necessary. 

Someone cannot be held under the Baker Act for as long as they can under the Marchman Act, but it could still be an important measure in keeping someone safe if they pose an immediate danger to themselves or others and an important first step in obtaining further treatment for them. 

If you have any questions about this information or about the Marchman or Baker Acts more generally, feel free to get in touch with one of our skilled intervention counselors. While there are never any guarantees in a situation as fraught as one that calls for the filing of a Marchman Act petition, we can guide you through the process to the best of our ability and give our all to ensure that you get the help you need. Call 833-497-3808 to learn more today.

According to the dictionary, the word marchman means “a person living on the border territories.” At least in some vague metaphorical sense, one could see how that description applies to someone struggling with addiction, who is living on the outskirts of our reality, technically “here” but largely lost in their own world of substance abuse. 

But the Marchman Act is actually named after a specific person, and quite a colorful character at that. It’s the reverend Hal S. Marchman, who is known for the many years he spent as a chaplain for NASCAR as well as for his work in advocating for people who struggle with substance abuse.

Like many of the most admirable crusaders in the fight against addiction, Marchman drew inspiration from his own struggle with the disease. A book published about Marchman’s life, Shalom and Amen: The Life and Work of Hal Marchman, the Racers’ Preacher, itself gets its name from Marchman’s trademark ending to his prayers, which showcases his inclusivity and open-heartedness in its incorporation of both traditionally Christian and traditionally Jewish language.

According to Shalom, Marchman described himself as a “drunk in recovery” who became a role model for others and had over six decades of sobriety under his belt by the time he died in 2009. As an ahead-of-his-time advocate for “the community that lives on the streets,” Marchman also established various church programs and community treatment centers for alcoholics and drug addicts as well as his own Daytona Beach rehabilitation program, where his direct counsel helped inspire thousands in their recoveries.

That isn’t Marchman’s only legacy, though; his alma mater Stetson University has also named the Hal S. Marchman Program for Civic and Social Responsibility after the reverend. The school is admiring of his commitment to “bettering the lives of the marginalized and worked to help those with chemical dependencies and others who tend to be forgotten by society at large,” and names his life, work, and values inspirational. 

And then, of course, there’s the Marchman Act. From 1970 until 1993, Florida law actually had two separate statutes dealing with involuntary commitment, one that covered incapacitation related to alcohol abuse and another one that dealt with abuse of other drugs.

But given how often alcohol and drug abuse co-occur, and the potential for confusion due to slight differences in the terms of involuntary admission under each of the two laws, state legislator Steven Wise wrote a new statute that would apply in both circumstances to add some clarity to the proceedings.

Given Hal S. Marchman’s tireless advocacy for those struggling with addiction, he was an obvious choice to be honored as the law’s namesake, and given the many people that the Marchman Act has and will continue to help over the years, it’s a fitting honor and remembrance.

Since then, the Marchman Act has been altered slightly but remained fundamentally intact in providing a way that concerned loved ones can court-order involuntary commitment for someone who is incapacitated due to their substance use provided that certain conditions are met. 

And while ordering a loved one to get addiction treatment against their will is certainly never something to be taken lightly, Hal S. Marchman’s own story of recovery from addiction and the many he helped inspire remind us why it could be worth the struggle. With the right treatment, someone can be brought back from addiction’s dismal border territories and back into a life filled with hope and light. If you would like to learn more about how our skilled intervention counselors can guide you through the process of filing a Marchman Act petition, feel free to call us today at 833-497-3808. 

Sources:

https://www.amazon.com/Shalom-Amen-Marchman-Racers-Preacher/dp/0982336500

https://www.stetson.edu/other/marchman/

https://www.ninthcircuit.org/sites/default/files/TheMarchmanActProcess-English.pdf