Rhode Island General Laws Title 40.1. Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals § 40.1-5.3-1. Facility for incompetent persons and others

(a) The state director of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals shall maintain appropriate facilities, including the Rhode Island state psychiatric hospital and the Eleanor Slater hospital, for the confinement of persons committed to the director’s custody pursuant to this chapter and shall provide for the proper care, treatment, and restraint of all such persons.  All persons now or hereafter committed, pursuant to the provisions of §§ 40.1-5.3-3, 40.1-5.3-4, 40.1-5.3-7, or the provisions of prior law, shall be removed or committed, as the case may be, to the facility into the custody of the director, or the director’s designee, who in turn shall ensure the admission of the person to either the Rhode Island state psychiatric hospital or the Eleanor Slater hospital in the discretion of the director or the director’s designee.

(b) The cost of care, maintenance, and treatment of persons committed to the custody of the director of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals, as provided in §§ 40.1-5.3-3 and 40.1-5.3-4, unless otherwise provided for, shall be paid by the person, if the person has any estate, or by the person liable for the person’s support, if such there be;  otherwise, the director may maintain without charge or defray the expense of care and treatment of the poor or indigent persons incompetent to stand trial or acquitted on the grounds of insanity.