California Code, Welfare and Institutions Code - WIC § 7362

(a) The medical superintendent of a state hospital, on filing his or her written certificate with the Director of State Hospitals, may on his or her own motion, and shall on the order of the State Department of State Hospitals, discharge a patient who comes within any of the following descriptions:

(b) The person, when discharged, shall be returned to the county of his or her residence at the expense of the county, and delivered to the sheriff or other appropriate county official to be designated by the board of supervisors, for delivery to the official or agency in that county charged with the responsibility for the person.  Should the person be a poor and indigent person, he or she shall be cared for by the county as are other indigent poor.

(c) No person who has been discharged from a state hospital under the provisions of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) shall be again committed to a state hospital unless he or she is subject to judicial commitment.