Chatman v. State

Robert L. Brown, Justice.

Appellant Terry Jo Chatman appeals from a man appeals from a forty-five-day commitment order entered by a Pulaski County probate judge sitting as a Stone County probate judge. He contends that the commitment order was invalid because a probable-cause hearing had not first been held by the Stone County probate judge, as required by law. We agree that the forty-five-day commitment order was invalid and that the probate judge in Pulaski County lacked jurisdiction to enter the order for two reasons: (1) failure to conduct a probable-cause hearing to determine whether…