Lanterman-Petris-Short Act: hearings.

Existing law, the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, authorizes the involuntary commitment and treatment of persons with specified mental health disorders for the protection of the persons so committed, and authorizes a conservator of the person, of the estate, or of the person and the estate to be appointed for a person who is gravely disabled as a result of a mental health disorder or impairment by chronic alcoholism, and designates procedures for hearing a petition for that purpose. Existing law authorizes a party to a hearing under the act to demand that the hearing be public, and be held in a place suitable for attendance by the public. This bill would require a hearing held under the act to be presumptively closed to the public if that hearing involves the disclosure of confidential information. The bill would authorize the individual who is the subject of the proceeding to demand that the hearing be public, and be held in a place suitable for attendance by the public. The bill would also authorize a judge, hearing officer, or other person conducting the hearing to grant a request by any other party to the proceeding to make the hearing public if the judge, hearing officer, or other person conducting the hearing finds that the public interest in an open hearing clearly outweighs the individual's interest in privacy. The bill would define "hearing" for these purposes to mean any proceeding conducted under the act, as specified.