San Diego County Department of Social Services v. Jones

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 the statutory one-year period expired, his conservator sought to reestablish the conservatorship under section 5361. Finding him still gravely disabled under the LPS Act, the court granted the petition. Six months later, Jones moved for rehearing under section 5364, seeking to terminate the reestablished conservatorship. His request was denied.

Jones appeals the order denying his request to end the conservator-ship, contending the trial court erred at the rehearing when it ruled the Department of Corrections (Corrections) did not qualify as a “responsible third person providing all his needs,” and…