53-21-144. Rights concerning photographs. (1) A person admitted to a mental health facility may be photographed for the clinical or administrative purposes of the facility. The photographs are confidential. Photographs may be released to a law enforcement agency when needed to aid in the search for a person who has left a facility without authorization from the facility's medical staff and when it is determined that the person is a self-threat or self-danger or a threat or danger to others at the time that the person left the facility. A law enforcement agency may not subsequently release photographs to the public or other persons unless authorized by a court order.
     (2) Other nonmedical photographs may not be taken or used without consent of the patient or, if applicable, the patient's legal guardian or without a court order.

     History: En. 38-1316 by Sec. 16, Ch. 466, L. 1975; R.C.M. 1947, 38-1316; amd. Sec. 14, Ch. 547, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 4, Ch. 579, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 30, Ch. 490, L. 1997.