In Ohio, only a short list of professionals and officials can initiate a pink slip: psychiatrists, licensed physicians, licensed clinical psychologists, certain certified psychiatric nurses, health officers, parole officers, police officers, and sheriffs. The authority comes from Ohio Revised Code 5122.10, and it is the exclusive list for emergency psychiatric holds. Family members, friends, therapists, and social workers are not included, though they have a separate route through probate court.
The Full List of People Authorized to File a Pink Slip
Ohio Revised Code 5122.10 names each category of person who may take someone into custody for emergency psychiatric examination and transport them to a hospital:1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Title 51 Chapter 5122 Section 5122-10
- Psychiatrists
- Licensed physicians
- Licensed clinical psychologists
- Psychiatric clinical nurse specialists certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center
- Psychiatric certified nurse practitioners certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center
- Health officers
- Parole officers
- Police officers
- Sheriffs
The two nurse categories are narrower than they look. A psychiatric nurse who lacks the specific American Nurses Credentialing Center certification is not on the list. A general-practice nurse working on a psychiatric unit is not on the list either. Similarly, “licensed clinical psychologist” excludes psychologists who hold other credentials but not the clinical license.
What the Filer Must Believe Before Filing
Being on the list is not enough. The person filing the pink slip has to have reason to believe two things at the same time: that the individual has a mental illness that would make them subject to a court order under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 5122, and that the individual represents a substantial risk of physical harm to themselves or others if left at liberty while awaiting an examination.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Title 51 Chapter 5122 Section 5122-10
That belief has to be documented on the form itself. The pink slip, named for the color of paper it is printed on, requires the filer to write down the circumstances under which the person was taken into custody, the reasons for believing a mental illness is present, and which statutory criterion applies. The form also prompts the filer to note any steps taken to secure the person’s property if they were taken from home. The written statement travels with the patient and becomes part of the legal record. The patient or their attorney can request a copy.
So if you are asking a police officer, sheriff’s deputy, or clinician to file a pink slip on someone’s behalf, what you are really asking is for that professional to personally conclude, and put in writing, that the mental illness and dangerousness standards are both met. They will base that on what they observe and what you tell them, but the judgment and the signature are theirs.
Who Cannot File a Pink Slip, and What They Can Do Instead
Family members cannot file a pink slip. Neither can friends, roommates, clergy, teachers, employers, outpatient therapists, counselors, or social workers. The statute is a closed list, and no amount of firsthand knowledge of the person’s condition changes that.
Two practical options exist for people who are not on the list.
Call Law Enforcement or an Authorized Clinician
The most common route is to call police or the sheriff’s office and ask them to perform a welfare check. A responding officer who personally observes the situation can then decide whether a pink slip is warranted. The officer is not required to file one; they are required to use their own judgment against the statutory standard. If the person is already in the care of a psychiatrist, physician, licensed clinical psychologist, or qualifying psychiatric nurse, that clinician has independent authority to initiate the hold.
File an Affidavit in Probate Court
Ohio Revised Code 5122.11 opens a second door. “Any person or persons” may file an affidavit in the probate court of the county where the individual lives, based on either firsthand knowledge or reliable information, asking the court to order treatment.2Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Section 5122-11 – Court Ordered Treatment of Mentally Ill Person
This is called judicial hospitalization, and it is the route Ohio law provides to the people the emergency statute leaves out. The affidavit must identify which specific legal criterion under ORC 5122.01(B) the person allegedly meets and lay out enough facts to establish probable cause. The court may also require a certificate from a psychiatrist, or paired certificates from a licensed clinical psychologist and a licensed physician, each confirming an examination and belief that commitment criteria are met. If the person has refused to be examined, the applicant can submit a sworn statement to that effect instead.2Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Section 5122-11 – Court Ordered Treatment of Mentally Ill Person
A judge or attorney-referee reviews the affidavit. If probable cause is found, the court can issue a temporary detention order directing a health officer, police officer, or sheriff to take the person into custody and transport them to a hospital. The court can also skip the detention order and schedule a hearing directly. Within two business days, the probate court refers the affidavit to the local mental health board, which helps the court decide whether community-based alternatives to hospitalization exist.2Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Section 5122-11 – Court Ordered Treatment of Mentally Ill Person
The judicial route is slower than an emergency pink slip but it is available to anyone, and it is the only mechanism the statute offers for someone outside the professional list to formally start the process.
The Standard Behind the “Mental Illness Subject to Court Order” Phrase
Both routes point back to the same definition. Ohio Revised Code 5122.01(B) lists five categories of “person with a mental illness subject to court order,” and the person being committed must have a mental illness that puts them in at least one of them: evidence of substantial risk of self-harm; recent violence or recent threats placing someone in reasonable fear of violence; inability to meet basic physical needs because of the illness, with substantial and immediate risk of serious injury and no immediate community-based alternative; behavior that creates a grave and imminent risk to the person’s own rights or the rights of others combined with a likely benefit from hospital treatment; or a documented history of treatment non-compliance meeting specific hospitalization or violence thresholds.3Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Title 51 Chapter 5122 Section 5122-01
The fifth category contains specific numerical thresholds. It requires either two hospitalizations within the prior 36 months or at least one act of serious violence within the prior 48 months, each tied to treatment non-compliance. The clock on both windows pauses during any period the person was hospitalized or incarcerated.4Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Section 5122-01 – Hospitalization of Mentally Ill Definitions
A mental illness diagnosis on its own is not a basis for either a pink slip or a court-ordered commitment. The illness has to be actively driving one of the five situations above. For the emergency pink slip specifically, the filer’s threshold is “reason to believe” the person both has such an illness and poses a substantial risk of harm while awaiting examination. At a later probate court hearing, the standard rises to clear and convincing evidence.
What Happens Immediately After a Pink Slip Is Filed
Anyone considering initiating a pink slip, or asking an officer to, should understand what the person will experience in the first hours and days.
Once the individual is brought to a hospital, staff must examine them within 24 hours of arrival.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Title 51 Chapter 5122 Section 5122-10 If the chief clinical officer concludes after that examination that the person meets the criteria for court-ordered treatment, the hospital can hold the person for up to three court days. During that window, the hospital has two choices: admit the person as a voluntary patient if they agree, or file an affidavit in probate court to begin judicial hospitalization proceedings. If neither happens within three court days, the person must be released. “Court days” excludes weekends and holidays, so a Friday admission can stretch into the following week.
The receiving facility does not have to be a state psychiatric hospital. It can be a private psychiatric facility or a general hospital, with general hospitals included as receiving options under the statute even without a dedicated psychiatric license.5Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Section 5122-10 – Emergency Hospitalization
Putting It Together
If the question is who can walk up, make the decision, and set the emergency process in motion, the answer in Ohio is the nine categories named in ORC 5122.10 and no one else. If the question is who can start the broader legal process when the people closest to the situation are not clinicians or officers, the answer is anyone, through a probate court affidavit under ORC 5122.11. Knowing which door to use, and what the person on the other side will be asked to swear to, is most of what separates a request that moves forward from one that stalls.