Conservatorship of Kevin M.

I. Introduction

Appellant, the mother and former conservator of respondent, appeals from an order of the Alameda County Superior Court terminating respondent’s Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (LPS Act or Act) conservatorship. We are called upon to decide whether a potential conservatee must exercise his right to a jury trial within the time period set forth in Welfare and Institutions Code section 5350, subdivision (d), or whether, pursuant to an unwritten procedure of the Alameda County Superior Court, the conservatee may automatically reserve his right to a jury trial and exercise that right once at any time during the year-long conservatorship. We conclude that this unwritten procedure is fatally inconsistent with the LPS Act.

II. Background

A. The Statute

In order to address the substantive and procedural claims raised in this appeal, a brief overview of the LPS Act is required. The LPS Act “governs the involuntary treatment of the mentally ill in California. Enacted by the Legislature in 1967, the Act includes among its goals ending the inappropriate and indefinite commitment of the mentally ill, providing prompt evaluation and treatment of persons with serious mental…