A 5150 hold in Los Angeles is a civil detention under California Welfare and Institutions Code Section 5150 that allows a peace officer or designated mental health clinician to place a person in a county-approved psychiatric facility for up to 72 hours of involuntary evaluation and treatment when a mental health condition makes them a danger to themselves, a danger to others, or gravely disabled.1California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 5150 – Detention of Persons With a Mental Health Condition for Evaluation and Treatment It is not an arrest, it does not produce a criminal record, and the 72-hour clock starts the moment someone is first detained in the field rather than when they arrive at the hospital. It does carry one consequence most people never see coming: a five-year California prohibition on owning or buying firearms if the hold was based on dangerousness.
When Someone Can Be Placed on a 5150
At least one of three grounds must be present, and each requires the behavior to stem from a mental health disorder, a severe substance use disorder, or both together. Being homeless, eccentric, or hard to deal with is not enough.
- Danger to self: threatened or attempted suicide, active self-harm, or a clearly stated intent to cause self-injury.
- Danger to others: threats, attempts, or behavior showing a credible risk of violence toward another person.
- Grave disability: the condition has left the person unable to provide for basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, personal safety, or necessary medical care.2California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 5008 – Definitions
Grave disability is the standard most often misunderstood. It does not describe someone who is financially struggling or who prefers to live outdoors. It describes someone whose psychiatric condition has made them unable to secure the basics of survival, like a person so disoriented, delusional, or catatonic that they cannot feed themselves or seek shelter. Intellectual disability alone cannot support a grave disability finding.
Who Can Initiate a Hold in Los Angeles
California law limits this authority to peace officers, the professional in charge of a designated facility, attending staff there, members of mobile crisis teams, and other professionals specifically designated by the county.1California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 5150 – Detention of Persons With a Mental Health Condition for Evaluation and Treatment In practice, LAPD officers, LA County Sheriff’s deputies, and clinicians with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health all carry it.
Two specialized teams respond to most psychiatric crisis calls in the county. Psychiatric Mobile Response Teams (PMRTs) are clinician-led, non-law-enforcement units run by the Department of Mental Health that can evaluate people on scene, de-escalate, and initiate a hold when necessary.3Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. Psychiatric Mobile Response Teams (PMRT) The Systemwide Mental Assessment Response Team (SMART) pairs LAPD officers with licensed clinicians and operates citywide around the clock.4LAPD Online. Mental Evaluation Unit
Family members and bystanders cannot write a hold themselves, but they are often the ones who place the call. The Department of Mental Health runs a 24/7 help line at (800) 854-7771, and the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is reachable at 988.5Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. Department of Mental Health Whoever initiates the hold must sign a written application describing the specific behaviors observed and the probable cause for believing the person meets the legal criteria.
What Happens at the Facility
Once the person arrives at a county-designated psychiatric facility, clinical staff conduct their own independent evaluation. The officer or clinician in the field may have gotten the call right, but the facility’s psychiatrist or clinical team makes a separate determination about whether involuntary detention is justified.1California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 5150 – Detention of Persons With a Mental Health Condition for Evaluation and Treatment
If staff conclude the person can be properly served without being detained, the law requires that evaluation and crisis services be offered on a voluntary basis instead. Many people never realize this is an option. Agreeing to voluntary treatment changes the legal picture meaningfully, and the downstream firearm restriction may not apply in the same way.
If the clinical team confirms the criteria are met, the involuntary hold continues. The facility is not required to use the full 72 hours. The moment the treatment team concludes the person no longer meets any of the three criteria, the release process should begin.
Your Rights While Held
Involuntary detention does not erase your civil rights. A list of them must be posted prominently at the facility and explained to you in a language you understand.6California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 5325 – Legal and Civil Rights of Persons Involuntarily Detained
- Confidential phone calls to notify family, friends, or an attorney.
- Daily visitors.
- Unopened mail in both directions, plus access to writing materials and stamps.
- Your own clothes, personal belongings, and a reasonable amount of your own money.
- Access to a patients’ rights advocate who is independent of the facility and whose services are free.
Refusing Medication
You generally have the right to refuse psychiatric medication during a 5150. A facility cannot force antipsychotic drugs on you unless there is a genuine psychiatric emergency that cannot be managed any other way, or a court has found through a capacity hearing that you lack the ability to make an informed decision about the medication.7Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Riese v. St. Marys Hospital and Medical Center, 751 P.2d 893 These are commonly called Riese hearings, after the California Supreme Court case that established them, and they let you contest forced medication before a judge.
Getting Out: Release, Extension, and Habeas
Most 5150 holds end well before 72 hours. Once the treatment team determines you are stable and no longer meet any of the three criteria, release must begin. You cannot be held longer because paperwork is incomplete or a bed is available elsewhere.
At release, the facility cannot simply send you out the door. California law requires a care coordination plan developed with input from you, the county behavioral health department, and your health care payer. The plan must include a first follow-up appointment with a behavioral health professional, and the appointment information has to be given to you before you leave.8California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 5152 – Release Requirements Your provider is required to make at least three good-faith attempts to contact you for follow-up by phone, email, mail, or in person. All treatment after release is voluntary.
The 14-Day Certification
If, after the initial evaluation period, clinical staff believe you still meet the criteria and need further treatment, they can certify you for up to 14 additional days of intensive treatment under Welfare and Institutions Code Section 5250.9California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 5250 – Certification for Intensive Treatment This is a significant escalation. You must receive written notice of the certification, and the facility must hold a certification review hearing within four days unless you or your attorney request a postponement. At that hearing a hearing officer reviews whether probable cause exists to continue holding you. You are entitled to help from an attorney or a patients’ rights advocate.
At any point during the hold you can also request release through a writ of habeas corpus, which triggers judicial review by the superior court in the county where the facility sits. The facility must forward your request to the court as soon as possible.
The Five-Year Firearm Ban
This is the consequence that catches people off guard years later, often when they try to buy a gun. If you were taken into custody under a 5150 because you were a danger to yourself or others, assessed, and admitted to a designated facility for that same reason, California prohibits you from owning, possessing, or purchasing any firearm or ammunition for five years after your release.10California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 8103 The ban covers firearms, other deadly weapons, and ammunition. Two or more dangerousness-based admissions within a single year turn the five-year ban into a lifetime prohibition. Holds based solely on grave disability, without any finding of dangerousness, do not trigger this restriction.
You can petition the superior court in your county of residence to restore your firearm rights. You get one hearing during the five-year period, or during the lifetime prohibition if that applies, and the court must schedule it within 60 days of your request. At the hearing, the prosecution carries the burden of showing by a preponderance of the evidence that you would not be likely to use a firearm safely and lawfully. If the state fails to meet that burden, the court must lift the restriction. For a lifetime prohibition, additional petitions are allowed, but no more often than once every five years after the initial ruling.
Federal law separately prohibits firearm possession by anyone “committed to a mental institution” under 18 U.S.C. Section 922(g)(4), but the federal definition excludes people held for observation only.11Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Federal Firearms Prohibition Under 18 USC 922(g)(4) A standard 72-hour 5150 for evaluation generally does not trigger the federal ban on its own. A longer court-ordered commitment, such as a 14-day Section 5250 certification, could. For most people in Los Angeles, the California five-year ban is the restriction that actually applies.
Records, Background Checks, and Who Pays
A 5150 is not a criminal conviction and will not show up on a standard criminal background check. It is reported to the California Department of Justice solely for the firearm eligibility system. The hold itself becomes part of your confidential medical record, protected by state and federal privacy laws. Routine employment background checks will not see it, though specialized screenings for certain law enforcement or security positions that include mental health inquiries may.
An involuntary hold generates real medical bills. The receiving facility must screen, evaluate, and stabilize you regardless of ability to pay under federal EMTALA rules. Medi-Cal covers involuntary treatment for enrolled beneficiaries, which eliminates direct liability for a large share of people placed on holds. Private insurance plans in California must cover psychiatric emergencies with the same cost-sharing as other medical emergencies under state and federal mental health parity rules. If you are uninsured and not enrolled in Medi-Cal, the county behavioral health system generally absorbs the cost, though you may still receive a bill. Calling the hospital’s financial counseling office after discharge is the fastest way to sort out what you owe and which programs can cover the balance.