House Bill 2383 amends Washington’s involuntary treatment statutes (multiple sections of RCW 71.05) to change procedural time limits and clarify detention, evaluation, and petitioning processes. Major procedural changes include extending initial emergency detention and probable cause timelines from 120 hours to 168 hours (with the 168‑hour computation excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays), extending the post‑detention judicial detention period from 14 to 21 days, and authorizing designated crisis responders (DCRs) and facility professionals to file and support petitions under specified signature and service rules. The bill requires DCRs to personally interview a person before filing (video interviews allowed with a licensed professional present if the person does not refuse), to inquire about mental health advance directives, to serve court papers and designated counsel, and to follow notification rules when a person is an American Indian or Alaska Native (including time limits of as soon as possible but no later than three hours for notice of filing decision and no later than 24 hours for copies of petitions and orders). The bill revises emergency custody and facility procedures: peace officers and first responders may take persons into custody and deliver them to designated facilities, facilities must provisionally accept petitions and examine persons within three hours of emergency department arrival, and facilities may hold persons delivered by first responders for up to 120 hours (not counting time before medical clearance). The statute requires facilities and DCRs to inquire about veteran status and, if appropriate and accepted, to refer eligible persons first to the Veterans Health Administration for placement. The bill also imposes a six‑month prohibition on firearm possession for persons detained up to 168 hours who are not subsequently committed under RCW 71.05.240, with specified notice, surrender, and return procedures involving local law enforcement and prosecuting attorneys. The bill preserves and clarifies patient rights and limits on compelled treatment while amending standards for court‑ordered administration of antipsychotic medication and electroconvulsant therapy: a petitioning party must prove by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence a compelling state interest, necessity and effectiveness of the proposed treatment, and lack or failure of medically acceptable alternatives; the court must make specific findings and may apply substituted judgment if the person is unable to decide. Emergency administration of such medications without a court order is allowed only under narrow clinician‑directed criteria, but if given a petition must be filed the next judicial day and a hearing held within two judicial days. The bill also authorizes facility clinical leaders or DCRs to petition for additional commitment periods during a 21‑day intensive treatment period and allows direct filing for longer orders if a person is found incompetent under chapter 10.77 RCW. Several provisions and cross‑references are incomplete in the provided text. The excerpt ends mid‑sentences in multiple places and references other RCWs and sections of the act whose full changes are not shown here. The act includes staggered effective dates and expirations for specified sections (most taking effect July 1, 2026, with some sections expiring June 30, 2027 or taking effect June 30, 2027), but the full set of affected sections and the complete statutory language are not included in the extracted material.

If enacted, the biggest practical change is that people subject to emergency detention could be held up to 168 hours (about seven days) before a superior court probable cause hearing instead of the current 120 hours (about five days), and the follow-up inpatient commitment period can be up to 21 days instead of 14. Designated crisis responders, hospitals, and courts will see heavier workloads and faster timelines: DCRs must personally interview people before filing, make quick notifications to tribes (within three hours) and to prosecutors/courts, serve paperwork, and determine detention criteria within set periods; emergency departments must have a mental health or SUD clinician examine arrivals within three hours and facilities must do required professional evaluations within 24 hours. Veterans and tribal coordination are elevated—facilities must ask about veteran status and try VHA placement first when appropriate, and tribes must be given prompt notice and copies of petitions and orders with a right to intervene—adding coordination and transport responsibilities. The changes will likely increase operating and legal costs for local mental health authorities, hospitals, courts, sheriffs/police (who must accept surrendered firearms and verify returns), and behavioral health providers because of longer holds, more hearings, more notice and paperwork, and storage/return of firearms tied to a six-month prohibition after certain detentions. Legal representation and court resources will also be used earlier and more often because counsel must be appointed at filing and hearings held within the new timelines. Some implementation details and how different amended RCW cross-references interact are missing from the excerpts, and several sections have different effective or expiration dates, so exact timing and some procedures remain uncertain.