District of Columbia Code Division III. Decedents' Estates and Fiduciary Relations. § 21-502. Commission on Mental Health; composition; appointment and terms of members; organization; chairperson; salaries.

(a) The Commission on Mental Health is continued. The Chief Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia shall appoint the members of the Commission, and the Commission shall be composed of 9 members and an alternate chairperson. One member shall be a magistrate judge of the Court appointed pursuant to title 11, District of Columbia Official Code, who shall be a member of the bar of the Court and has engaged in active practice of law in the District of Columbia for a period of at least 5 years prior to his or her appointment. The magistrate judge shall be the Chairperson of the Commission and act as the administrative head of the Commission. The Chairperson shall preside at all hearings and direct all of the proceedings before the Commission. Eight members of the Commission shall be psychiatrists or qualified psychologists, as those terms are defined in section 21-501, who have not had less than 5 years of experience in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.

(c) The psychiatrist or qualified psychologist members of the Commission shall serve on a part-time basis and shall be rotated by assignment of the Chief Judge of the Court, so that at any one time the Commission shall consist of the Chairperson and 2 members, each of whom is either a psychiatrist or a qualified psychologist. Members of the Commission who are psychiatrists or qualified psychologists may practice their professions during their tenures of office, but may not participate in the disposition of a case of a person in which they have rendered professional service or advice.

(d) The Chief Judge of the Court shall appoint a magistrate judge of the Court to serve as an alternate Chairperson of the Commission. The alternate Chairperson shall serve on a part time basis and act as Chairperson in the absence of the permanent Chairperson.

(e) The rate of compensation for the members of the Commission who are psychiatrists or qualified psychologists shall be fixed by the Executive Officer of the Court.