What Is Ricky’s Law in Washington State? Detention and Rights

Ricky’s Law is Washington State’s framework for involuntarily detaining and treating someone whose substance use disorder has made them dangerous to themselves or others, or has left them unable to meet their own basic needs. Passed as House Bill 1713 in 2016 and effective April 1, 2018, it amended the state’s Involuntary Treatment Act so that substance use disorder, by itself, is enough to justify court-ordered intervention. Before the law, only a mental health crisis could trigger involuntary commitment in Washington. The law is named after Ricky Garcia, whose severe addiction a psychiatrist once said he would commit if state law allowed it.¹

Who Qualifies for Involuntary Detention

Not every serious addiction meets the threshold. Under RCW 71.05.020, the person’s substance use disorder must produce one of two specific conditions.

Likelihood of Serious Harm

The person poses a substantial risk of physical harm. That covers threats or attempts to hurt themselves, including suicidal behavior; behavior that has caused harm or substantial pain to another person or placed others in reasonable fear of harm; or behavior that has caused substantial damage to someone else’s property. It also applies when a person has threatened someone’s physical safety and has a history of at least one violent act.²

Gravely Disabled

The person’s substance use has left them unable to care for themselves. The statute defines this as being in danger of serious physical harm because they cannot meet their own essential needs for health or safety, or showing severe deterioration through repeated and escalating loss of control over their actions while not receiving care essential to their health or safety.²

The core change Ricky’s Law made was redefining “behavioral health disorder” to explicitly include substance use disorder. A separate mental health diagnosis is no longer required.²

Who Can Start the Process

Family members cannot file a petition to commit someone. Neither can doctors, friends, or police. Under RCW 71.05.150, only a Designated Crisis Responder (DCR) can file the petition for initial detention. What everyone else can do is report information to a DCR alleging that the person meets the criteria.³

Once contacted, the DCR investigates. They evaluate the facts, weigh the credibility of the person reporting, and must personally interview the individual in question unless that person refuses. During the interview, the DCR tries to determine whether the person will voluntarily accept treatment at an evaluation facility, crisis stabilization unit, secure withdrawal management and stabilization (SWMS) facility, or approved substance use disorder treatment program. The DCR also checks whether a mental health advance directive is on file.³

If the person refuses voluntary treatment and the DCR is satisfied the legal criteria are met, the DCR files the petition.

What Happens After Detention

Once a DCR determines the criteria are met, the person can be taken into custody and held at a SWMS facility for up to 120 hours. In an emergency, where the threat is imminent rather than merely likely, a DCR can order emergency custody under RCW 71.05.153 without first going through the standard petition process, placing the person in a SWMS facility, evaluation and treatment center, or approved substance use disorder program.⁴

Someone brought to an emergency department must be examined by a substance use disorder professional or mental health professional within three hours of arrival. The DCR then has twelve hours from being notified to decide whether the person meets the detention criteria.⁴

The facility also has to ask about veteran status. If the person appears eligible for Veterans Health Administration services and is open to them, the DCR must try a VA referral before pursuing other involuntary treatment.⁴

The Probable Cause Hearing

If the facility’s professionals believe continued treatment is needed, they can petition for a 14-day commitment or a 90-day less restrictive alternative. The petition must be signed by two qualified professionals who have personally examined the person and must explain why less restrictive options are not appropriate.⁵

The court holds the probable cause hearing within 120 hours of the initial detention. The standard is preponderance of the evidence: the state must show it is more likely than not that the person, because of a behavioral health disorder, poses a likelihood of serious harm or is gravely disabled, and that no less restrictive alternative would serve their best interests. If the court agrees, it orders up to 14 days of involuntary inpatient treatment.⁶

A person who claims they’ve voluntarily agreed to treatment in good faith shifts the burden back to the petitioner. To count as a good faith volunteer, they must actually follow the facility’s treatment plan, not simply say yes.⁶

Extensions and Less Restrictive Alternatives

Fourteen days is a starting point. Under RCW 71.05.280 and 71.05.320, if someone remains dangerous or gravely disabled as the initial commitment expires, the facility can petition for more.

Up to 90 days of inpatient treatment or a less restrictive alternative. A less restrictive alternative (LRA) might be community-based outpatient treatment, and the order must name the specific behavioral health provider responsible for the person’s care and require cooperation with the plan.
Up to 180 days in certain cases where the person meets heightened commitment criteria under RCW 71.05.280(3), such as involvement in serious criminal behavior connected to the disorder.

If someone on an LRA stops cooperating or deteriorates, a new petition can return them to inpatient commitment. At the end of any commitment period, the person is released unless a fresh petition is filed, and the grounds for re-commitment are narrower than for the initial detention.⁷

Rights of the Person Detained

The law builds in protections against the loss of liberty. The court must appoint an attorney before the probable cause hearing if the person doesn’t already have one.⁵ When detention is ordered under the emergency provision, the DCR must immediately begin serving the petition on the detained person’s designated attorney.⁴

If the state wants to commit someone beyond 14 days, the person is entitled to a full evidentiary hearing or a jury trial. The court must inform them of this right, orally and in writing, at the time of the initial commitment.⁶

What Families Can and Cannot Learn

Families who trigger the process often expect updates on their loved one’s care. Federal law makes that difficult. Under 42 CFR Part 2, substance use disorder treatment records carry confidentiality protections stricter than ordinary medical privacy rules. A facility generally cannot share information about a patient’s care without that patient’s written consent, even with the family member who contacted the DCR in the first place.⁸

A court can order disclosure in civil or administrative proceedings, but only after finding “good cause.” The court must conclude that no other way of getting the information would be effective and that the public interest in disclosure outweighs the harm to the patient and the treatment relationship. Even then, disclosure is limited to what’s essential and restricted to who needs to see it.⁸

If the patient has been adjudicated as lacking capacity, a personal representative appointed under state law can consent to disclosure. In most involuntary commitment situations, though, the patient still has legal capacity, and the family’s only route to information is whatever the patient chooses to share.

Who Pays

Under the Affordable Care Act, substance use treatment is an essential health benefit, so non-grandfathered individual and small group plans must cover it. The federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act bars insurers from imposing tighter limits on substance use treatment than on medical or surgical benefits, which means copays, visit caps, and preauthorization rules can’t be more restrictive for addiction care.⁹

For people enrolled in Apple Health, Washington’s Medicaid program, substance use treatment is covered directly without a referral from a managed care plan. The Washington State Health Care Authority specifically lists involuntary treatment under Ricky’s Law among the services it supports. People who are uninsured and low-income are directed to apply for Apple Health through Washington Healthplanfinder.¹⁰

The Bed Shortage

The law only works if there’s somewhere to put people. Ricky’s Law requires detention in a secure withdrawal management and stabilization facility, and Washington has a limited supply of these beds. As of the fourth quarter of 2024, the state had 57 SWMS beds, with average daily occupancy running between 50 and 60 percent.¹¹

Those utilization numbers suggest open capacity, but they hide the practical picture. The statute itself acknowledges the constraint: emergency detention under RCW 71.05.153 allows placement in a SWMS facility only “if available with adequate space.”⁴ When beds aren’t open, people in crisis have historically ended up in emergency rooms, mental health facilities, or jail cells, where appropriate substance use treatment isn’t always accessible.¹ For families trying to use the law, the gap between what the statute allows and what’s physically available is often the hardest part.

1
Washington State Health Care Authority. Ricky’s Law: Involuntary Treatment Act
2
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 71.05.020 – Definitions
3
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 71.05.150 – Petition for Initial Detention of Persons With Behavioral Health Disorders
4
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 71.05.153 – Emergency Detention of Persons With Behavioral Health Disorders – Procedure
5
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 71.05.230 – Commitment Beyond Initial Evaluation
6
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 71.05.240 – Petition for Up to 14 Days of Involuntary Treatment or 90 Days or 18 Months of Less Restrictive Alternative Treatment – Probable Cause Hearing
7
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 71.05.320 – Remand for Additional Treatment – Less Restrictive Alternatives
8
eCFR. 42 CFR Part 2 – Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records
9
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA)
10
Washington State Health Care Authority. Substance Use Treatment
11
Washington State Health Care Authority. Secure Withdrawal Management Report – October 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024