What Is the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act in California?

The Lanterman-Petris-Short Act is California’s 1967 law that controls when the state can detain and treat someone against their will for a mental health crisis. It limits involuntary holds to people who, because of a mental health disorder, are a danger to themselves, a danger to others, or gravely disabled, and it layers in stronger legal protections the longer a detention lasts.¹ The law has been the backbone of California’s involuntary treatment system for more than fifty years, and a 2024 expansion through Senate Bill 43 significantly broadened who can be held as gravely disabled.

Who Can Be Held Under the LPS Act

A person can only be involuntarily detained if a mental health disorder places them in at least one of three categories: danger to self, danger to others, or gravely disabled.² Mental illness alone is never enough. There must be evidence tying the disorder to a specific, concrete risk.

Danger to self covers suicidal behavior and severe self-neglect that threatens survival. Danger to others means a credible threat of violence, usually supported by recent actions or statements. Gravely disabled applies when a person’s condition leaves them unable to meet basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, personal safety, or necessary medical care.² Courts have required specific evidence rather than vague assertions. In Conservatorship of Chambers (1977), the court reviewed detailed psychiatric records and behavioral history before approving a conservatorship, reinforcing that generalities do not meet the standard.³

Peace officers, designated mental health professionals, mobile crisis team members, and certain medical staff can initiate a hold based on direct observation or credible reports. Whoever starts the hold must document the specific behaviors or statements that justify it.

How SB 43 Changed Grave Disability

For decades, “gravely disabled” covered only inability to provide food, clothing, or shelter. Senate Bill 43, signed in 2023, expanded the definition in two ways. It added “personal safety” and “necessary medical care” to the list of basic needs. And it extended the qualifying conditions beyond mental health disorders alone to include severe substance use disorders and co-occurring conditions.⁴

Under the updated law, personal safety means the ability to survive safely in the community without involuntary detention or treatment. Necessary medical care refers to treatment a licensed practitioner determines is needed to prevent serious deterioration of a physical condition that would otherwise lead to serious bodily injury.⁴ The disorder still has to be the cause of the person’s inability to meet those needs. Someone who simply lacks resources is not gravely disabled under the law.

SB 43 took effect on January 1, 2024, but most counties deferred implementation. All California counties were required to implement the expanded criteria by January 1, 2026.⁵ A person detained today faces a broader standard than someone detained before 2024.

The 72-Hour Hold

The entry point to the LPS system is the 72-hour hold under Section 5150. It allows temporary custody for psychiatric evaluation and crisis intervention. The clock starts the moment you are first detained, not when you arrive at the facility.¹

At admission, staff must give you both oral and written notice explaining why you are being held, how long the hold lasts, and your right to contact a patients’ rights advocate. The written notice identifies whether the facility believes you are a danger to yourself, a danger to others, or unable to care for your own basic needs, and lists the specific facts supporting that assessment.⁶ The notice must be in a language you can understand, with accommodations for disabilities that affect communication.

If at any point during the 72 hours you no longer meet the legal standard, the facility must release you. There is no requirement to wait out the full period. If staff believe continued hospitalization is needed beyond 72 hours, they must first offer you the option of staying voluntarily before pursuing a longer involuntary hold.⁷

Longer Holds When Treatment Continues

When a patient needs more time, the LPS Act provides a sequence of progressively longer holds, each with stricter procedural safeguards.

14-Day Certification

The first extension is a 14-day certification for intensive treatment under Section 5250. The clinical team must find that you continue to be a danger to self, a danger to others, or gravely disabled, and that you are unwilling or unable to accept voluntary treatment.⁸ The second requirement is often overlooked: the facility must document that it offered you voluntary treatment and that you declined or could not accept it.

You are entitled to a certification review hearing within four days of being certified.⁹ A neutral hearing officer decides whether the legal criteria are still met. You have the right to present evidence, call witnesses, and be represented by an attorney or advocate. If the hearing officer finds insufficient justification, you must be released immediately.

30-Day Extension for Grave Disability

If you remain gravely disabled after the 14-day hold, Section 5270.15 allows an additional 30 days of intensive treatment. This extension is only available for grave disability, not for danger to self or others.¹⁰ During the 30 days, the facility must reassess your condition at least every 10 days, and you are entitled to another certification review hearing.

180-Day Post-Certification Hold

The longest involuntary hold under the LPS Act is the 180-day post-certification period under Section 5300, and the threshold is substantially higher. It is available only when a person has attempted, inflicted, or credibly threatened substantial physical harm against someone else while already in custody for evaluation or treatment, or when such an act of violence led to the person being taken into custody. The person must also present a demonstrated danger of inflicting substantial physical harm on others as a result of a mental health disorder.¹¹

Unlike shorter holds, a 180-day commitment requires a full court proceeding. The facility must provide treatment for the underlying disorder during confinement, though the law does not require that the person be amenable to treatment or that treatment be successful.¹¹

LPS Conservatorship

When someone remains gravely disabled over a longer period and cannot be stabilized through shorter holds, the county may seek an LPS conservatorship under Section 5350. A conservator, usually a county public guardian or a family member, is appointed to make decisions about treatment, housing, and in some cases finances.¹²

LPS conservatorships are specifically for people who are gravely disabled due to a mental health disorder, a severe substance use disorder, or both. They are distinct from probate conservatorships used for people with dementia or developmental disabilities. In Conservatorship of Roulet (1979), the California Supreme Court held that the appointment of a conservator and involuntary commitment “threatens a person’s liberty and dignity on as massive a scale as that traditionally associated with criminal prosecutions,” and required proof beyond a reasonable doubt before a conservatorship can be imposed.¹³

An LPS conservatorship lasts up to one year. The county can petition to renew it only if you still meet the criteria. You have the right to demand a court or jury trial on whether you are gravely disabled, and that trial must begin within 10 days of your demand. If the court fails to start the trial within that window, the proceedings can be dismissed. You can also request a change of conservator or seek termination at any time if your condition improves.¹²

Your Rights While Being Held

Being detained does not strip away your civil rights. The LPS Act requires facilities to honor a set of protections no matter how long the hold lasts.

Refusing Medication

You have the right to refuse antipsychotic medication. Staff cannot force it on you unless an emergency requires immediate intervention, or a judge determines through a capacity hearing that you lack the ability to make an informed decision about the medication.¹⁴ These capacity hearings are commonly called Riese hearings after the 1987 Court of Appeal decision that established the right. Before any medication is given, you must receive written and oral information about its effects and side effects. In an emergency, only the specific medication needed to address the emergency can be administered, and only in the least restrictive manner possible.

Daily Living

You have the right to wear your own clothes, keep personal possessions, see visitors every day, make and receive confidential phone calls, and send and receive unopened mail. You can keep and spend a reasonable amount of your own money. The law separately guarantees your right to refuse electroconvulsive treatment and psychosurgery outright.¹⁵

Restraints

Physical restraint and seclusion require authorization from a physician or clinical psychologist. In an emergency where restraint is applied first, the order must be secured within one hour. No order for restraint or seclusion can last longer than 24 hours, and standing “as needed” orders are prohibited. While restrained, you must be checked by staff at least every 15 minutes.¹⁶

Firearm Consequences After a 5150

A 5150 hold carries consequences that outlast the detention itself. If you are taken into custody, assessed, and admitted to a designated facility because you were found to be a danger to yourself or others, California law imposes an automatic five-year ban on owning, possessing, or purchasing firearms and ammunition.¹⁷ The ban kicks in upon release.

If you have been admitted under a 5150 hold two or more times within a single year, the ban becomes lifetime. You can petition the superior court in your county of residence to lift either prohibition. The court must schedule a hearing within 60 days, and the burden falls on the state to show by a preponderance of the evidence that you would not use a firearm safely and lawfully. If the state cannot meet that burden, the court orders the prohibition lifted.¹⁷

Challenging a Hold

You do not have to wait for a scheduled hearing to contest your detention. Every person held under the LPS Act has the right to petition for a writ of habeas corpus at any time. You can make the request yourself, or someone can make it on your behalf, either to the person who delivered your certification notice or to any staff member at the facility. The staff member must promptly relay it to the superior court.¹⁸

In Thorn v. Superior Court (1970), the California Supreme Court held that upon certification for a 14-day hold, a patient must be promptly visited by appointed counsel and informed of the right to seek habeas corpus. Certification itself triggers these protections; the patient does not have to ask for them first.¹⁹ And in Doe v. Gallinot (1979), a federal district court ruled that holding someone as gravely disabled beyond 72 hours without a hearing violated due process, establishing the mandatory hearing requirements still in place today.²⁰

At any court proceeding to extend a hold or impose a conservatorship, the burden of proof falls on the petitioning party, not on you. You have the right to an attorney throughout, and if you cannot afford one, the court will appoint counsel, typically from the public defender’s office. Your attorney can challenge the hospital’s evidence, cross-examine witnesses, and argue for less restrictive alternatives like outpatient treatment. If you are facing a conservatorship petition, the county must convince the court beyond a reasonable doubt that you are gravely disabled.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code WIC 5150 – Detention of Persons with a Mental Health Condition for Evaluation and Treatment
2
California Legislative Information. California Code WIC 5008 – Definitions
3
Justia Law. Conservatorship of Chambers, 71 Cal. App. 3d 277
4
California Department of Health Care Services. Senate Bill 43 Changes to Gravely Disabled Behavioral Health Information Notice
5
Disability Rights California. SB 43 and CARE Court Community FAQ
6
California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 5150
7
California Department of Health Care Services. Rights for Individuals in Mental Health Facilities Admitted Under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act
8
California Legislative Information. California Code WIC 5250 – Certification for Intensive Treatment
9
Justia Law. California Welfare and Institutions Code 5250-5259.3 – Certification for Intensive Treatment
10
California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 5270.15
11
California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 5300
12
California Legislative Information. California Code WIC 5350 – Conservatorship for Persons with a Grave Disability
13
Justia Law. Conservatorship of Roulet, 23 Cal. 3d 219
14
California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 5332
15
California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 5325
16
Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 22, Section 77103 – Behavioral Restraint and Seclusion
17
California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code WIC 8103
18
California Legislative Information. California Welfare and Institutions Code 5275
19
Justia Law. Thorn v. Superior Court, 1 Cal. 3d 666
20
Justia Law. Doe v. Gallinot, 486 F. Supp. 983