Sec. 2902. Discretionary authority of court; examination,
report, and determination by court; termination of civil commitment
- (a) If the United States district court believes that an
eligible individual is an addict, the court may advise him at his first
appearance or thereafter at the sole discretion of the court that the
prosecution of the criminal charge will be held in abeyance if he elects to
submit to an immediate examination to determine whether he is an addict and is
likely to be rehabilitated through treatment. In offering an individual an
election, the court shall advise him that if he elects to be examined, he will
be confined during the examination for a period not to exceed sixty days; that
if he is determined to be an addict who is likely to be rehabilitated, he will
be civilly committed to the Surgeon General for treatment; that he may not
voluntarily withdraw from the examination or any treatment which may follow;
that the treatment may last for thirty-six months; that during treatment, he
will be confined in an institution and, at the discretion of the Surgeon
General, he may be conditionally released for supervised aftercare treatment
in the community; and that if he successfully completes treatment the charge
will be dismissed, but if he does not, prosecution on the charge will be
resumed. An individual upon being advised that he may elect to submit to an
examination shall be permitted a maximum of five days within which to make his
election. Except on a showing that a timely election could not have been made,
an individual shall be barred from an election after the prescribed period. An
individual who elects civil commitment shall be placed in the custody of the
Attorney General or the Surgeon General, as the court directs, for an
examination by the Surgeon General during a period not to exceed thirty days.
This period may, upon notice to the court and the appropriate United States
attorney, be extended by the Surgeon General for an additional thirty days.
- (b) The Surgeon General shall report to the court the
results of the examination and recommend whether the individual should be
civilly committed. A copy of the report shall be made available to the
individual and the United States attorney. If the court, acting on the report
and other information coming to its attention, determines that the individual
is not an addict or is an addict not likely to be rehabilitated through
treatment, the individual shall be held to answer the abeyant charge. If the
court determines that the individual is an addict and is likely to be
rehabilitated through treatment, the court shall commit him to the custody of
the Surgeon General for treatment, except that no individual shall be
committed under this chapter if the Surgeon General certifies that adequate
facilities or personnel for treatment are unavailable.
- (c) Whenever an individual is committed to the custody of
the Surgeon General for treatment under this chapter the criminal charge
against him shall be continued without final disposition and shall be
dismissed if the Surgeon General certifies to the court that the individual
has successfully completed the treatment program. On receipt of such
certification, the court shall discharge the individual from custody and
dismiss the charge against him. If prior to such certification the Surgeon
General determines that the individual cannot be further treated as a medical
problem, he shall advise the court. The court shall thereupon terminate the
commitment, and the pending criminal proceeding shall be resumed.
- (d) An individual committed for examination or treatment
shall not be released on bail or on his own recognizance.
- (e) Whoever escapes or attempts to escape while committed to
institutional custody for examination or treatment, or whoever rescues or
attempts to rescue or instigates, aids, or assists the escape or attempt to
escape of such a person, shall be subject to the penalties provided in
sections 751 and 752
of title 18, United States Code.
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