IN RE: the Civil Commitment of K.K. (2026)

MEMORANDUM DECISION

[1] K.K. appeals her involuntary temporary commitment to Community Fairbanks Behavioral Health (“Community”). K.K. raises a single issue for our review, namely, whether Community presented sufficient evidence to support her temporary commitment.¹ We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

[2] On December 5, 2025, K.K. presented to Community's crisis department. However, before she could be triaged, she wandered away and ended up in the emergency room of Community's nearby heart hospital. Community professionals placed K.K. on a forty-eight-hour hold. During that time, she displayed “pressured speech” and “flight of ideas, meaning [she was] talking about a bunch of different things kind of all at once and not in order.” Tr. p. 22. She also was making “grandiose statements” and speaking about having “special powers,” including special healing abilities and being able to telepathically communicate with religious figures. Id. K.K. had to be placed in seclusion three times during those first forty-eight hours, and she received medications for her “behaviors.” Id.

[3] Dr. Mason Mockobee, a psychiatrist at Community, met with K.K. thirteen times over the next ten days. He diagnosed K.K. with bipolar I disorder, a chronic mental illness. In support of that diagnosis, he observed K.K.’s grandiose statements and pressured speech, distractibility, poor sleeping habits, and delusions. Regarding the latter symptom, Dr. Mockobee heard K.K. saying that “she's a spook in the FBI” and she can “control the spiritual plane.” Id. at 25.

[4] Community filed its petition for K.K.’s involuntary temporary commitment. Dr. Mockobee testified at the ensuing hearing on Community's petition. In addition to recounting K.K.’s diagnosis and her behaviors underlying that diagnosis, Dr. Mockobee testified that K.K. does not have insight into her mental illness; indeed, Dr. Mockobee testified that K.K. believed that she was being wrongly treated and incorrectly medicated. Instead, K.K. believed that she “doesn't have psychiatric symptoms and she actually is undergoing a spiritual attack,” and, “[s]ince she does not believe she has a mental illness,” she “will not willingly take medications outside of the hospital or even inside the hospital ․” Id. at 25-26. Dr. Mockobee believes that K.K.’s mental illness is likely prohibitive to her securing employment and housing, and that her temporary commitment would be essential to breaking the cycle of her psychosis.

[5] K.K.’s mother also testified in support of Community's commitment petition. She testified that K.K.’s history of mental-health issues goes back at least three years and included involuntary commitments in August and September. She testified that, on one occasion, K.K. “jumped out of my car in the second lane of traffic,” after which K.K. approached unknown men near the road and asked for clothing and food. Id. at 7. K.K.’s mother further testified that K.K. forgot where she had parked her car on multiple occasions and would wander in public spaces without shoes. Similarly, K.K.’s mother testified that K.K. frequently forgot her identification and forms of payment. K.K.’s mother also testified that K.K. was trying to live from hotel room to hotel room, but K.K. was “removed from eight hotels within four days to six days” and “escorted out by either the police or security.” Id. at 11. K.K.’s mother did not believe that K.K. was capable of independently maintaining housing.

[6] Following the evidentiary hearing, the trial court ordered K.K. to be involuntarily committed at Community for a period not to exceed ninety days. This expedited appeal ensued.

Discussion and Decision

[7] On appeal, K.K. argues that Community failed to present sufficient evidence to support her commitment. In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence to support a civil commitment, we consider “only the probative evidence and reasonable inferences favorable to the judgment” to determine if a reasonable fact-finder could have found the necessary statutory elements proven by clear and convincing evidence. J.F. v. St. Vincent Hosp. & Health Care Ctr., Inc., 256 N.E.3d 1260, 1270 (Ind. 2025). In doing so, we will not reweigh the evidence or reassess the credibility of the witnesses. Id.

[8] Indiana Code section 12-26-2-5(e) (2025) provides that a trial court may order a person's involuntary civil commitment where a health care provider demonstrates by clear and convincing evidence that the person is “mentally ill and either dangerous or gravely disabled” and that the “detention or commitment of that individual is appropriate.” Here, the trial court found K.K. to be mentally ill and gravely disabled and found her commitment to be appropriate; K.K. challenges only the trial court's finding that she is gravely disabled.

[9] Indiana Code section 12-7-2-96 defines “gravely disabled” in relevant part as

a condition in which an individual, as a result of mental illness, is in danger of coming to harm because the individual:

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(2) has a substantial impairment or an obvious deterioration of that individual's judgment, reasoning, or behavior that results in the individual's inability to function independently.

[10] Our Supreme Court has recognized that sufficient evidence of a substantial impairment exists when a person suffers from “active paranoid delusions.” J.F., 256 N.E.3d at 1271. The Court has further held that sufficient evidence of an inability to function independently exists where there is evidence that the individual has placed him- or herself at the risk of harm; the individual lacks insight into his or her paranoia; and the individual has a history of hospitalizations that would likely continue if untreated. Id.

[11] We conclude that the record here demonstrates that K.K. is gravely disabled under Indiana Code section 12-7-2-96. First, Community demonstrated that K.K. has a substantial impairment. Dr. Mockobee's testimony made clear that K.K. was suffering from delusions. K.K. believed she was not suffering from a mental illness but instead from a spiritual attack across a psychic plane. She believed she had special powers, including the ability to communicate telepathically with spiritual figures. Further, K.K. had to be secluded on multiple occasions while in Community's care due to her behaviors.

[12] Second, Community demonstrated that K.K. has an inability to function independently. K.K.’s mother testified that K.K.’s shelter was, at best, transient, with K.K. attempting to live from hotel to hotel but being repeatedly removed from hotel premises. K.K.’s mother further testified that K.K. frequently loses her identification, her forms of payment, and her car, and K.K. has been found wandering around in public, sometimes without shoes. That evidence is sufficient to show that K.K.’s behaviors place her at risk of harm.

[13] Additionally, Dr. Mockobee testified that K.K. lacks insight into her mental illness, noting that K.K. does not acknowledge that she has psychotic symptoms and that K.K. is unwilling to take prescribed medications because she does not believe she is mentally ill. Dr. Mockobee likewise testified that, if untreated, K.K.’s current behaviors would likely continue. And K.K.’s mother added that K.K.’s current behaviors had resulted in at least two prior involuntary commitments. The evidence of K.K.’s behaviors placing her at risk of harm coupled with her lack of insight and her history of hospitalizations, which would likely continue without treatment, is sufficient to demonstrate that K.K. is unable to function independently.

[14] For all of these reasons, Community presented sufficient evidence to support the trial court's finding that K.K. is gravely disabled. We therefore affirm the trial court's order for K.K.’s involuntary temporary commitment.

[15] Affirmed.

FOOTNOTES

1.   K.K.’s appeal is an expedited appeal in accordance with our Supreme Court's ongoing Marion County Expedited Mental Health Appeals Pilot Project.

Mathias, Judge.

Tavitas, C.J., and Foley, J., concur.