In the Matter of the Necessity for the Hospitalization of Paige M.

Summary

The Alaska Supreme Court held that a non-emergency involuntary-hospitalization screening investigation must occur after the petition is filed and must include a post-petition interview with the respondent when reasonably possible. Because the superior court neither conducted that interview nor found that it was not reasonably possible, and because the evidentiary support for hospitalization was weak, the error was not harmless. The court reversed the denial of Paige M.'s motion to vacate; no separate opinions were filed.