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.