San Diego County Department of Social Services v. Jones

Opinion

HUFFMAN, J.

When Robert Lance Jones was due to be released on parole from a state prison commitment, the authorities at the facility where he was housed, Atascadero State Hospital, determined his existing mental illness would in all likelihood prevent him from completing parole successfully. Accordingly, they referred his case to the County of San Diego for assistance in establishing a conservatorship under the Lanterman-PetrisShort Act (LPS Act). (See Welf. & Inst. Code, § 5000 et seq.) Such a conservatorship was established and Jones was placed at Patton State Hospital. Shortly before…