A 5150 hold is a California law, found in Section 5150 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, that allows a peace officer or qualified mental health professional to place a person in involuntary psychiatric custody for up to 72 hours. It is not a police radio code and not a criminal arrest. It is a civil protective measure used when someone, because of a mental health disorder, is a danger to themselves, a danger to others, or gravely disabled, and cannot or will not seek care voluntarily.
The Three Grounds That Justify a Hold
A 5150 can only be initiated when at least one of three conditions is met, and the cause has to be a mental health disorder. Nothing else qualifies.
- Danger to self. The person has threatened or attempted suicide or serious self-harm, or their behavior strongly suggests imminent self-injury.
- Danger to others. The person has threatened or attempted to physically harm someone, or presents a serious and present risk of violence.
- Gravely disabled. The person is so impaired by a mental health disorder that they cannot provide for their own basic needs for food, clothing, or shelter. This is a survival-level standard, not a judgment about being disorganized or eccentric.
The statute specifies that the person initiating the hold “shall not be limited to consideration of the danger of imminent harm.” The threat does not have to be seconds away. A pattern of escalating behavior or a recent attempt can establish probable cause.
Who Can Place Someone on a 5150
California limits this authority to specific people. A private citizen cannot initiate a hold directly.
- Peace officers, including police and sheriff’s deputies. This is the most common starting point, since officers usually respond to the first crisis call.
- The professional person in charge of a county-designated psychiatric evaluation and treatment facility, or attending clinical staff there.
- Members of county-designated mobile crisis response teams.
- Other mental health professionals specifically authorized by the county.
Each must have probable cause to believe the person meets one of the three criteria. A general worry about someone’s mental state is not enough.
What You Can Do If a Family Member Is in Crisis
If you believe someone is in psychiatric crisis, you cannot place them on a hold yourself, but you can start the process. Call 911 if safety is at immediate risk. Many California counties also run mobile crisis teams that respond to psychiatric emergencies around the clock. When you call, give the responder specific facts: what the person has said or done, any mental health history, current medications, and whether weapons are accessible. That information helps the officer or clinician on the scene make an accurate assessment.
What Happens in the 72 Hours
The clock starts the moment the person is first detained, not when they arrive at the facility. A peace officer who initiates the hold transports the person to a county-designated psychiatric evaluation and treatment facility, not to jail.
At the facility, clinicians assess the person’s medical condition, psychological state, and social situation. The statute requires that evaluation continue throughout the hold, not just at intake, and crisis intervention services can run alongside it.
The facility does not have to keep someone the full 72 hours. If a clinician decides the person can be safely served without continued detention, the person must be offered voluntary services and released. Many holds end well before 72 hours when the crisis resolves. The reverse is also true: the facility cannot keep someone just because a bed is available. The clinical justification has to persist for the detention to continue.
If the Hold Is Extended
When the 72 hours end and the person still meets the criteria, the facility can certify them for up to 14 additional days of intensive treatment under Welfare and Institutions Code Section 5250, commonly called a 5250 hold. This requires that staff have evaluated the person, found the criteria still met, and that voluntary treatment was offered but refused or not possible. The facility also has to be county-designated for intensive treatment. A 5250 carries more procedural protections than the initial hold, including a certification review hearing.
Rights During the Hold
An involuntary detention does not strip civil rights. California preserves several specific protections.
- Notice. The person must be told why they are being detained, verbally and in writing, in a language they understand.
- Phone access to inform family, friends, or an attorney of their location.
- The right to refuse medication and other treatment, except in a genuine medical emergency where the person’s life or safety requires immediate intervention.
- The right to an attorney. If they cannot afford one, a patients’ rights advocate is available at the facility.
- Judicial review. The person can file a writ of habeas corpus to challenge the hold, and the court must hear the petition promptly.
- Humane treatment, free from abuse, neglect, or retaliation for exercising their rights.
A 5150 Is Not a Criminal Arrest
This distinction gets missed often. A 5150 is a civil protective action. It does not produce criminal charges, does not create a criminal record, and should not appear on a standard criminal background check. The person is not arrested in any legal sense, even though an officer may physically transport them and the experience can feel the same from the inside.
The hold does create a mental health record, however, and it can carry real consequences in other areas, firearms in particular.
Firearm Consequences
Under California law, a person placed on a 5150 is prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms for five years from the date of the hold. The prohibition applies even if the person was released early and even if the clinicians concluded no further treatment was needed.
Federal law is less settled. 18 U.S.C. ยง 922(g)(4) prohibits firearm possession by anyone who “has been committed to any mental institution.” Whether a short-term 5150 evaluation hold counts as a commitment under federal law has been debated. A 5150 is technically an evaluation, not a formal judicial commitment, and some courts have drawn that line. A 5250 certification is more likely to be treated as a commitment that triggers the federal prohibition. Because the interaction between state and federal rules creates real uncertainty, anyone worried about firearm rights after a hold should consult an attorney familiar with both.
Who Pays for the Hold
The person did not ask for the evaluation and may have been brought in against their will, but the costs of the evaluation, treatment, and hospital stay can still fall on them or their insurance. A 5150 generates medical bills like any other hospital admission.
Health insurance generally processes the claim like any emergency psychiatric admission. Insurers, though, make their own coverage decisions based on medical necessity, and California courts have held that being on a legal hold does not automatically mean the treatment qualifies as a covered emergency service. The hold authorizes detention, not treatment coverage, so disputes over what the insurer will pay are not unusual.
For uninsured individuals, county mental health systems often absorb a significant portion of the cost when the person is treated at a county-designated facility. Medi-Cal covers involuntary psychiatric holds for eligible individuals. Bills from even a short stay can be substantial, so ask the facility’s financial counselor about charity care, Medi-Cal eligibility, and payment plans before discharge paperwork is finalized.
After the Hold Ends
At release, the facility should provide a discharge plan with referrals to outpatient mental health services, information about medications prescribed during the hold, and crisis resources going forward. In practice, discharge planning varies a lot by facility, and many people leave without a clear path to follow-up care. If you are picking someone up, ask the discharge team directly who the outpatient provider will be, when the first appointment is, and what to do if another crisis develops before then.
The 5150 record is reported to the California Department of Justice, which is what triggers the five-year firearm prohibition. A person who believes the hold was unjustified can petition the court to restore firearm rights, but the burden is on the petitioner to show they are not a danger. The hold itself stays part of the confidential mental health record, protected by state and federal health privacy laws, and is not disclosed in standard employment or housing background checks.