Arkansas Code
Subchapter 2 - Commitment and Treatment
§ 20-47-218. Treatment

(a) At all steps of the involuntary admission proceeding, the mental health treatments and conditions of treatment for the person named in the petition for involuntary admission shall be no more harsh, hazardous, or intrusive than necessary to achieve a successful treatment or objective for the person and shall involve no restrictions on physical movement or supervised, resident, outpatient, or inpatient care except as reasonably necessary for the administration of treatment for the protection of the person or others from physical injury.
(b) Specific limitations on treatment during detention shall include the following:
(1) Detention under this subchapter may only be in a hospital or receiving facility or program as defined in § 20-47-202;
(2)
(A) During the initial period of evaluation and treatment, psychotherapy and oral or intermuscular medication may be used if the effects of the medication on the behavior of the individual do not exceed seventy-two (72) hours.
(B) Medication such as fluphenozine decanoate, commonly known as long-acting medication, or electroconvulsive therapy or psychosurgery shall not be used during this period;

(3)
(A) Psychosurgery shall not be used during any involuntary admission period if the person is involuntarily admitted to a receiving facility or program.
(B) Electroconvulsive therapy may be used against a patient's wishes only if the circuit court is presented with clear and convincing proof that such treatment is necessary; and

(4) Short-acting and long-acting medication may be used during the forty-five-day admission period and the one-hundred-eighty-day involuntary admission period.

(c) If the court at a forty-five-day admission period or a one-hundred-eighty-day involuntary admission hearing finds by clear and convincing evidence that the person is in need of treatment, it shall issue an order involuntarily admitting the person to the custody of the administrator or his or her designee for care and treatment within a receiving facility or program which is located within the person's geographic area of residence or to an appropriate hospital as defined in § 20-47-202.
(d)
(1) A treatment plan will be submitted to the court for approval at hearings held under §§ 20-47-214 and 20-47-215.
(2) The treatment plan will be submitted by the person's treatment staff of the hospital or the receiving facility or program to which the person has been involuntarily admitted.
(3) The approved treatment plan shall be incorporated by reference as a part of the court's order of involuntary admission.

(e) Notification shall be provided to the court by the person's treatment staff upon a change in the person's treatment plan if the change results in the person’s being treated in a more restrictive setting or manner.