938                              Laws of Maryland                       Ch. 407

14. Habeas Corpus.

(a)  At any time, any person admitted to any facility or Veterans'
Administration Hospital, or anyone, on his behalf, may apply to
any appropriate court for a writ of habeas corpus. Such proceeding
shall be available to determine the cause and the legality of his
admission and continued detention.

(b)  A writ of habeas corpus may also be applied for in the name
of the Department to determine whether any patient has been prop-
erly admitted or properly retained by any facility. Such application
shall be made by the Commission or his authorized representative
and shall be filed by the States' Attorney of the county in which the
facility is located or of which the patient is a resident.

15. Judicial Release.

(a)  Any patient may, at any time, subject to the limitations speci-
fied in this section, file a petition in the equity court of the county
in which he resides or resided at the time of his admission, or in
which he is confined for the purpose of securing his release. Any
person having a legitimate interest in the welfare of the patient may
file the petition on his behalf. The Department shall be the re-
spondent in any such case, unless the patient is a patient in a private
facility or a Veterans' Administration Hospital, in which case the
private facility or the Veterans' Administration Hospital shall be
named as the respondent.

(b)   The petition shall be such form and contain such data as
may be designated by the Maryland Rules.

(c)  The petitioner may request that his petition be heard by a
jury, and thereafter, such trial shall proceed as in a civil action
at law.

(d)   The issues to be determined are:

(1)  does the patient have any mental disorder; and

(2)  is the disorder of such a nature that for the protection of
himself or others, the patient needs inpatient medical care or treat-
ment.

If the jury or court sitting as a jury answers both questions
affirmatively, the court shall remand the patient to the custody of
the facility or Veterans' Administration Hospital from which he
petitioned for release. If either question is answered in the negative,
the petitioner shall be released from the facility or Veterans' Ad-
ministration Hospital.

(e)  Appeals may be taken from decisions on petitions as in any
other equity cases and may be taken by the petitioner or the re-
spondent.

(f)  Records of all such proceedings shall be made a permanent
part of the patient record of each patient.

(g)  Once a patient has had a determination on the merits of any
one petition filed by him pursuant to this section, no subsequent
petition prepared by or for him shall be heard by a court of equity
within one year of such prior determination, unless, in addition
to all other required data, the petition is accompanied by a valid