Title 42, Chapter 1, Section 6
( 42-1-6)
If any inmate of any state or county correctional institution,
county or municipal jail, or other similar facility, while such
inmate is in custody or in the process of being taken into custody,
injures or has injured or contacts or has contacted a law
enforcement officer, correctional officer, fireman, emergency
medical technician, or other person in such a manner as to present a
possible threat of transmission of a communicable disease to the
person so injured or contacted, then the warden, jailer, or other
official having charge of such inmate may take all reasonable steps
to determine whether the inmate has a communicable disease capable
of being transmitted by the injury or contact involved. Such steps
may include, but shall not be limited to, any appropriate medical
examination of or collection of medical specimens from the inmate.
In the event an inmate refuses to cooperate in any such procedures,
the warden, jailer, or other official may apply to the superior
court of the county for an order authorizing the use of any degree
of force reasonably necessary to complete such procedures. Upon a
showing of probable cause that the injury presents the threat of
transmission of a communicable disease, the court shall issue an
order authorizing the petitioner to use reasonable measures to
perform any medical procedures reasonably necessary to ascertain
whether a communicable disease has been transmitted. In addition to
any other grounds sufficient to show probable cause for the issuance
of such an order, such probable cause may be conclusively
established by evidence of the injury or contact in question and a
statement by a licensed physician that the nature of the injury or
contact is such as to present a threat of transmission of a
communicable disease if the inmate has such a disease. The cost of
any procedures carried out under this Code section shall be borne by
the jurisdiction having custody of the inmate. |