§43A-3-702.

§43A-3-702.
   
   When a person confined in a penal or correctional institution or
   reformatory of this state is evaluated as provided by law by either
   the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services or the
   Department of Corrections to be mentally ill and said inmate is in
   need of observation and treatment on account of mental illness, and
   that such observation and treatment cannot be properly carried out by
   the Department of Corrections Special Care Unit, the district court
   may then order his transfer to a state mental institution, pursuant to
   the laws governing involuntary commitment, where he shall remain until
   the superintendent of the hospital which received him advises the
   Commissioner of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services that his
   condition has so far improved that he may be returned to the
   institution from which he came without special jeopardy to his mental
   health or the discipline and conduct of that institution. The costs
   incurred in transferring the prisoner shall be borne by the penal
   institution. If the sentence expires during the time of a prisoner's
   stay in the mental institution, and he is still mentally ill and a fit
   subject for commitment to a state institution, the superintendent
   shall immediately instigate proceedings for commitment under one of
   the procedures provided in this title.