5256.1. (Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 438, Sec. 11.)
The certification review hearing shall be conducted by either a court-appointed commissioner or a referee, or a certification review hearing officer. The certification review hearing officer shall be either a state qualified administrative law hearing officer, a physician and surgeon, a licensed psychologist, a registered nurse, a lawyer, a certified law student, a licensed clinical social worker, a licensed marriage and family therapist, or a licensed professional clinical counselor. Licensed psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists, licensed professional clinical counselors, and registered nurses who serve as certification review hearing officers shall have had a minimum of five years’ experience in mental health. Certification review hearing officers shall be selected from a list of eligible persons unanimously approved by a panel composed of the local mental health director, the county public defender, and the county counsel or district attorney designated by the county board of supervisors. No employee of the county mental health program or of any facility designated by the county and approved by the State Department of Social Services as a facility for 72-hour treatment and evaluation may serve as a certification review hearing officer. The location of the certification review hearing shall be compatible with, and least disruptive of, the treatment being provided to the person certified. In addition, hearings conducted by certification review officers shall be conducted at an appropriate place at the facility where the person certified is receiving treatment.