CHAP. 139.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 1662, 1663, 1664, 1665,
1666, 1669, 1670, 1672, 1673, 1674, 1675, 1677, 1679, 1680, 1682, 1684, 1685,
1688, 1697, 1702, 1707, and 1710 of the Code of Virginia, 1887, as amended and
re-enacted by an act entitled an act to amend and re-enact sections 1660 to
1712, inclusive, of the Code of Virginia in relation to State hospitals for the
insane, and the commitment of insane persons, approved March 7, 1900.

Approved April 7, 1903.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That sections
sixteen hundred and sixty-two, sixteen hundred and sixty-three, sixteen
hundred and sixty-four, sixteen hundred and sixty-five, sixteen hundred
and sixty-six, sixteen hundred and sixty-nine, sixteen hundred and sev-
enty, sixteen hundred and seventy-two, sixteen hundred and seventy-
three, sixteen hundred and seventy-four, sixteen hundred and seventy-
five, sixteen hundred and seventy-seven, sixteen hundred and seventy-
nine, sixteen hundred and eighty, sixteen hundred and eighty-two, six-
teen hundred and eighty-four, sixteen hundred and eighty-five, sixteen
hundred and eighty-eight, sixteen hundred and ninety-seven,.seventeen
hundred and two, seventeen hundred and seven, and seventeen hundred
and ten of the Code of Virginia of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, as
amended and: re-enacted by an act entitled an act to amend and re-enact
sections sixteen hundred and sixty to seventeen hundred and twelve, in-
clusive, of the Code of Virginia, in relation to State hospitals for the
insane, and the commitment of insane persons, approved March seventh,
nineteen hundred, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

§ 1662. Boards of directors; their appointment and terms; quorum;
vacancies, how filled; their meetings and compensation.—For each State
hospital for the insane now existing, or hereafter established, there shall
be a special board of directors, consisting of three members, who shall be
appointed by the governor, subject to confirmation by the senate; such
board shall have the management of the hospital for which it is ap-
pointed, under the supervision and control of the general board of direc-
tors constituted by the Constitution of Virginia, and hereinafter men-
tioned. The terms of the directors first appointed shall be for two, four.
and six years, respectively, from the first day of March, nineteen hundred
and three, and thereafter, upon the expiration of the term of a member,
his successor shall be appointed for a term of six years. Appointments to
fill vacancies occurring during the term shall be for the unexpired term,
and shall be made by the governor, subject to confirmation by the senate,
at the next session of the general assembly. Two members shall constitute
a quorum of each special board of directors. During each year they shall
hold twelve regular mectings at the respective hospitals on or before the
fifteepth day of each month: provided, that the time of such meetings
shall not be so fixed as to prevent the commissioner of State hospitals from
attending all of such meetings. The members of said special boards of
directors shall receive for attendance upon the meetings of their respec-
tive boards their actual traveling expenscs to and from the place of meet-
ing. There shall be a general board of directors for the control and man-
agement of all the State hospitals for the insane now existing, or here
after established, which shall consist of all the directors appointed mem-
bers of the several special boards. Said general board of directors during
each year shall hold one regular meeting at each of the hospitals for the
insane. The members of said general board of directors shall receive for
attendance upon the meetings of said board their actual traveling esx-
penses to and from the place of mecting. If, however, any director at-
tend a meeting of both the general board and of a special board on the
same day, he shall be allowed and paid one expense account for said meet-
ing. No member of any of said boards of directors shall be eligible to
any other position in any of the State hospitals during the term for
which he was appointed, or for twelve months thereafter: provided, that
nothing herein contained shall render one of said directors ineligible to
the position of commissioner of State hospitals for the insane.

§ 1663. Superintendents, other officers and employees, how selected,
appointed and removed; their pay.—The general board of directors, on
the fifteenth day of April, nineteen hundred and three, or as soon there
after as practicable, and quadrennially thereafter, shall appoint a super-
intendent for each hospital, who shall be a skilled physician, and who
shall be removable by said board for misbehavior, incapacity, neglect of
official duty, or for acts performed without authority of law; said general
board of directors shall prescribe the compensation of said superintend-
ents. The special board of each hospital, at its July meeting, nineteen
hundred and three, or as soon thereafter as practicable, and quadrenni-
ally thereafter, shall, subject to the approval of the general board, appoint
all other resident officers and prescribe their compensation: provided,
however, that said salaries shall not exceed the following amounts: The
superintendent of the Western, two thousand two hundred and fifty dol-
lars; the superintendent of the Central, two thousand five hundred dol-
lars; the superintendent of the Eastern, two thousand dollars; and the
superintendent of the Southwestern, eighteen hundred dollars, and where
they occupy buildings on the grounds or belonging to the respective in-
stitutions, they shall pay therefor such rental as may be fixed by the
board of the respective institutions; the first and second assistant physi-
cians shall each receive a salary not exceeding one thousand two hundred
dollars per annum; the third assistant physician shall receive a salary
not exceeding nine hundred dollars per annum; the stewards of the
Western and Central asylums shall each have a salary not exceeding one
thousand dollars; and the stewards of the Eastern and Southwestern asy-
Iums shall each receive a salary not exceeding eight hundred dollars per
annum ; the clerks shall receive a salary not exceeding seven hundred and
fifty dollars per annum. Said clerks shall perform the duties of secretary
to the boards of the respective institutions. The engineer shall receive a
salary not exceeding seven hundred dollars per annum.

The officers named in this sub-section shall, in addition to the salaries
mentioned, receive their board and lodging at the respective hospitals, but
they shall not receive any additional perquisites or emoluments.

The superintendent of each hospital shall appoint, and may remove,
with the approval of the special board, all other employees of such hos-
pital, and, subject to the approval of said special board, shall prescribe
the compensation of such employees. The compensation of the superin-
tendents, other resident officers and employees aforesaid shall not be re-
duced during the term for which they were appointed.

§ 1664. Commissioner of State hospitals for the insane; how ap-
pointed ; term of office; powers, duties, and compensation.—There shall
be a commissioner of State hospitals for the insane, who shall be appointed
by the governor, subject to confirmation by the senate, for a term of four
years. He shall be ex-officio chairman of the general and each of the
special boards of directors; but each of said boards of directors shall bi-
ennially choose one of their body a chairman pro tempore to preside at
their meetings in the absence of the said commissioner. The commis-
sioner of State hospitals for the insane shall be responsible for the proper
disbursement of all moneys appropriated or received from any source for
the maintenance of such hospitals; he shall be a skilled accountant, and
shall prescribe and cause to be established and maintained at all of the
hospitals an uniform, proper, and approved system of keeping the records
and the accounts of money received and disbursed and of making reports
thereof, and shall at all times have access to such records, accounts and
reports; he shall from time to time inspect the hospitals in all their de-
partments; he shall make annually to the governor (to be transmitted to
the general assembly) a complete report of the affairs of each hospital,
especially as to the condition of buildings and grounds and the conduct of
business affairs, furnish estimates of money needed for maintenance, re-
pairs and buildings, and make recommendations for the improvement of
the hospitals and their management; he shall discharge such other duties
as shall be required of him by law or authorized by the general board. He
shall receive a salary of two thousand dollars per annum and necessary
traveling expenses (itemized) while in the discharge of his duties, not to
exceed the sum of five hundred dollars in any one year, and before enter-
ing upon the discharge of the duties of his office he shall enter into bond
in the penalty of ten thousand dollars, with security to be approved, con-
ditioned, payable, filed, and recorded as bonds of other State officers are
approved, conditioned, pavable, filed, and recorded.

Said commissioner shall be removable from office by the governor for
misbehavior, incapacity, neglect of official duty or acts performed with-
out authority of law. If a vacancy occur in said office the governor shall
appoint a commissioner for the unexpired term thereof, subject to con-
firmation by the senate. When a vacancy occurs during the recess of the
general assembly, it shall be filled by appointment of the governor, and
the appointee shall continue in office until the expiration of thirty days
after the first mecting of the general assembly ; 3 but it shall not be lawful
for the governor, when the general assembly is not in session, to appoint
any person whose nomination has been previously rejected by the senate.

§ 1665. How funds of hospital kept and quarterly reports——On the
requisition of the special board of directors of each hospital, approved by
the commissioner of State hospitals, the auditor shall transfer to some
solvent bank or banks to be designated in such requisition, the funds ap-
propriated by the general ascombly for such hospital, but not more than
one-fourth of such. ‘appropriation for any one year shall be so transferred
at any one time, nor shall any money be transferred to any such bank
by the auditor until such bank has executed and deposited with the auditor
a bond pavable to such hospital, conditioned to secure the safe-keeping of
all money received for the benefit of such hospital in a penalty equal
to the amount so to be deposited at any one time, and with security to he
approved by the auditor of public accounts.

The special board of directors of each hospital shall make report to the
auditor of public accounts quarterly, and oftener if required by the audi-
tor of public accounts so to do, showing the expenditures of money there-
tofore transferred for the benefit of such hospital.

The bonds given by depository receiving funds for the benefit of hos
pitals shall be examined by the commissioner of State hospitals for the
insane at least once in six months, and: if he shall find such bond insuffi-
cient he shall report the fact to the auditor of public accounts. There
upon the said auditor of public accounts shall transfer no other money
to such depository until a good and sufficient bond is executed by such
depository, unless he shall deem the bond complained of by the commis-
sioner to be good and sufficient.

All other funds received by any hospital shall be in a like manner de-
posited.

§ 1666. How money appropriated for or belonging to a hospital is dis-
bursed.—The money received by any bank for the benefit of any hospital
shall be disbursed by checks drawn by the superintendent of the hospital
and approved and countersigned by the chairman of said special board:
but no cheek shall be so drawn or approved until the same is authorized
by the said special hoard of directors by an order entered upon the records
of the hospital. But nothing in this section shall be construed to pre
vent the special board of directors, with the approval of the commissioner,
from depositing with the superintendent a sum sufficient to meet the
necessary monthly cash expenditures of said hospital, to be used by him
as petty cash and accounted for monthly.
§ 1669. Proceedings before a commission to ascertain insanity.—Anyj
county or corporation judge, or any justice of the peace, who suspects an}
person in his county or corporation to be insane, or upon the writter
complaint and information of any respectable citizen, shall issue his war.
rant, ordering such person to be brought before him, and he shall sum-
mon two licensed and reputable physicians (one of whom shall, wher
practicable, be the physician of the suspected person, and neither shall ir
any manner be related to him or have an interest in his estate). The
judge and the two physicians, or justice and the two physicians, shall con.
stitute a commission to inquire whether such person be insane and a suit.
able subject for a hospital for the care and treatment of insane persons.
and for that purpose the judge or the justice shall summon witnesses.
The physicians shall, in presence of the judge or justice (if practicable).
by personal examination of such person, and by inquiry, satisfy them-
selves and the judge or justice as to the mental condition of the patient
If the two physicians do not agree, a third physician shall be summoned.

- The depositions of all witnesses, physicians, and so forth, shall be taken
under oath.

The report of the commission shall consist of the following statement:
and questions and answers thereto, and of any further information bear.
ing on the insanity of the suspected person:

First. Name of patient, ; color, 3; SEX, 3; age, ; where
born, ; present residence, ; occupation, ——}; education, |
civil condition, id est married, single, or widowed, ; number of chil.
dren had (if a female), ; age of youngest child (if a female pa-
tient), - ; name and: address of guardian, nearest friend, or relative.

Second. Value of property of self or husband; of parents (if patient
ig a minor and not an orphan).

Third. Is the patient addicted to the intemperate use of intoxicating
liquors, tobacco or drugs, or guilty of any injurious, improper or im-
moral habits? State to what extent.

Fourth. State fully and in detail any physical symptoms, injury, o1
disease from which the patient is at present suffering, including (if a
female) irregularities, and so forth, of menstruation.

Fifth. Is or has the patient ever been subject to loss of consciousness.
epilepsy, or convulsions of any kind, and has the patient ever had any
serious illness, blow on the head, or other injury? State as fully and
accurately as possible.

Sixth. When did the present attack of insanity begin, and what were
the first symptoms?

Seventh. State fully the present symptoms of insanity, particularly
whether the patient is violent, destructive, excited, depressed, homicidal,
or suicidal. (If homicide or suicide has been attempted or threatened,
state when and in what manner.)

Eighth. State any changes which have occurred in the condition of
body or mind of the patient since onset of present attack of insanity. If
any restraint or confinement has been imposed upon the patient, state
nature and duration, whether now in jail, and so forth.
Ninth. If any attacks of insanity previous to the present one, when
did they occur? What was the duration, symptoms, and character of
each? What was the duration of interval between each attack, and during
the intervals was the patient entirely rational and sane?

Tenth. If the patient has ever been an inmate of any hospital or other
place of detention and treatment for the insane, state when and where,
and whether discharged as recovered or otherwise.

Eleventh. If any of the patient’s family or near relatives are, or have
been, insane, mentally defective, epileptic, neurotic, and so forth, state
the fact, the degree of consanguinity, and whether paternal or maternal.

Twelfth. What, in the opinion of the examining physicians, are the
exciting and predisposing causes of the patient’s insanity?

Thirteenth. What physician has been attending the patient? What
treatment has been given, and with what effect?

Fourteenth. State fully anything else bearing on the case as indi-
cating insanity.

Fifteenth. Is it the opinion of the examining physicians that the pa-
tient is insane, and should be placed in a hospital for the care and treat-
ment of insane persons? (Both examining physicians and the judge or
the justice shall sign the commitment papers.) Each county or corpora-
tion shall be provided with necessary blank forms by the clerk of the
court, to be paid for out of funds of the said county or corporation.

The record of proceedings under this section, together with the war-
rant of commitment, shall be made in duplicate, one copy of which shall
be delivered by the judge or justice to the sheriff or sergeant of the county
or city, and the other copy filed in the office of the county clerk of the
county or clerk of the city court of the city.

§ 1670. What the judge or justice to do if person be insane.—If the
commission decides that the person be insane and ought to be confined in
a hospital, and ascertain that he is a citizen of this State, then the judge
or justice shall order such insane person to be delivered to the care and
custody of the sheriff of the county or sergeant of the city, to be safely
kept and confined in jail by him until he is conveyed to a hospital for the
insane or otherwise discharged from custody; if some responsible person
will give bond, with sufficient surety, to be approved by the judge or jus-
tice, payable to the Commonwealth, with condition to restrain and take
proper care of such insane person without cost to the Commonwealth until
conveyed to a hospital or otherwise discharged from custody, then said
judge or justice may, in his discretion, commit such insane person to the
custody of such person. The judge or justice shall deliver forthwith to
the sheriff of the county, or sergeant of the city, a complete copy of the
record of the proceedings before the commission, and of the warrant of
commitment, and shall forthwith deliver to the county clerk of the county
or clerk of the city court of the city another copy of said record, to be
preserved in his office by him.

§ 1672. The sheriff or sergeant to whose custody an insane person has
been committed, or within whose bailiwick the commission is held, shall
forthwith on the same day the person is so adjudged insane make appli-
cation to an appropriate hospital for the admission and transfer of such
insane person to such hospital, transmitting a copy of the record of pro-
ceedings before the commission with such application.

Unless otherwise instructed by the commissioner of State hospitals, the
sheriff or sergeant shall make such application to the nearest appropriate
hospital. As soon as the record of proceedings before a commission of
lunacy, wherein a person is found to be insane, is filed in the office of the
county clerk or of the clerk of the city court, that officer shall at once
notify the commissioner of State hospitals for the insane, giving the name,
age, sex, and color of the insane person, the date of the finding of the com-
mission, and the custody to which such insane person was committed; if
such insane person has been committed to jail, and after the expiration of
six days from the date of the finding of the commission he or she is still
confined in jail, such clerk shall notify the commissioner of State hos-
pitals of the fact.

If the superintendent of a hospital shall fail to send for and convey to
his hospital any insane person confined in jail within six days after the
commitment of such insane person to jail, then the commissioner of State
hospitals for the insane shall forthwith order the sheriff or sergeant in
whose custody such insane person is held to convey him to some hospital,
designating in his order the hospital to which such insane person shall be
taken. It shall be the duty of such sheriff or sergeant to obey such order
at once, and the superintendent of such hospital shall receive and care for
such insane person.

If any hospital shall become so crowded that it is impossible to accom-
modate more insane persons therein, then the commissioner of State hos-
pitals shall give notice of the fact to all sheriffs and sergeants, and shall
designate the hospitals to which they shall make application for the ad-
mission of insane persons; but he shall at all times so arrange that insane
persons confined in jail shall be removed to a hospital within ten days if
practicable.

Before delivering an insane person to the authorities of a hospital, the
sheriff, sergeant, or other person having him in charge shall see that he is
clean, free from vermin or any contagious disease and properly clothed.

All insane persons applying for admission to any hospital shall be, when
so required by the superintendent of such hospital, delivered to the agent
of such hospital at the nearest or most convenient railroad station or
steamboat landing at the expense of the county or corporation, or the in-
sane person, if there be any estate. |

§ 1673. Conveyance of insane persons to hospitals; expense of trans-
portation, how paid.—When application is made to the superintendent of
a hospital for the admission of an insane person, he shall forthwith send
a guard from the hospital to conduct such insane person to the hospital,
or if for any reason it is impracticable to employ a guard for this purpose,
then the superintendent may appoint some suitable person for the pur-
pose, or may order the sheriff or sergeant of the county or city in which
said insane person is held to convey him or her to the hospital. If the
insane person is conveyed to the hospital by a guard from the hospital, or
by some person appointed by the superintendent, a certificate for trans-
portation for guard and insane person shall be furnished by the superin-
tendent of the hospital. If such insane person is conveyed to the hospital
by a sheriff or sergeant, then such certificate for transportation shall be
furnished by the clerk of the county or corporation court, as the case may
be. Such transportation shall be over the route approved by the corpora-
tion commission.

A guard, sheriff or sergeant, or other person appointed for the purpose
shall receive for conveying an insane person to the hospital only his
actual expenses. The cost of conveying insane persons to the hospital
shall be paid from the funds appropriated for the support thereof.

§ 1674. Examination of persons adjudged insane.—When a person who
has been adjudged insane is admitted to a hospital, he shall be detained
until the superintendent and his assistants shall have ample opportunity
to observe and examine him, and if upon such examination such authoni-
ties are of the opinion that said person is not insane, then such person,
unless he be charged with or convicted of crime, shall be returned by said
hospital authorities to the county or city from whence said insane person
was committed, with a certificate of discharge, and a copy of said certifi-
cate shall be forwarded by said superintendent to the clerk of said county
or clerk of said city court, to be filed with the commitment papers of said
persons.

§ 1675. Any person held in custody as insane may by means of a writ
of habeas corpus have the question of the legality of his detention and of
his sanity determined by a court of competent jurisdiction. If such per-
son be not held in custody, then he may file his petition in the circuit
court of the county or city in which he resides, or in which he was ad-
judged insane, or before the judge thereof in vacation, and upon such
petition, after notice to the authorities of the hospital or to the person
claiming the right to the custody of such adjudged insane person, such
court or judge thereof in vacation shall determine whether such person be
sane or insane.

§ 1677. Terms of admission to hospitals.—On an application on behalf
of any person for his admission into a hospital, the examining board may
receive him as a patient therein, if the person making the application will
execute and deliver an obligation, with sufficient surety (payable to the
directors of such hospital by their corporate name), for the payment of
such sums of money as may be agreed on between them for the mainte-
nance and cure of such insane person while in the hospital, and for the
expenses of his removal thereto or therefrom, when necessary.

§ 1679. Provisions for insane not in State hospitals—The commis-
sioner of hospitals be, and he is hereby, authorized and empowered to
cause insane persons confined in the different jails of the Commonwealth
to be supported and maintained outside of the hospitals of the State until
they can be provided for therein, and to make all necessary and proper
arrangements for their transportation, support, and maintenance.

§ 1680. How expenses paid.—The expenses of removing, supporting,
and maintaining such insane persons shall be paid out of the State treas-
ury.upon the order of the commissioner of hospitals: provided, that the
cost of their maintenance shall not be more than is now paid for their
support; but in cases where the insane persons shall have any estate or
effects over and above the support of his or her family, the same shall be
applied to the defraying of such expenses, so far as they will go or so far
as may be necessary.

§ 1682. Admission of persons charged with crime; certain convicts,
afterwards becoming insane, to be confined and treated in the State peni-
tentiary.—I{ any person charged with crime be found, in the court before
which he is so charged, to be insane, and such court shall order him to be
confined in one of the State hospitals for the insane, or if a court shall
order any person charged with crime to be confined in one of the State
hospitals, he shall be received and confined if, or so soon as, there is a
vacancy therein. The sheriff or other officer of the court by which the
order is made, shall immediately proceed in the manner directed by sec-
tion sixteen hundred and seventy-two, to ascertain whether such vacancy
exists, and until it is ascertained that there is a vacancy, such insane per-
son shall be kept in the jail of such court. If any person convicted of
crime and sentenced to confinement in the State penitentiary become
insane during the term for which he has been so convicted and sentenced,
he shall be confined and treated in a special ward in the State peniten-
tiary to be set aside and reserved for such insane criminals.

§ 1684. Re-examination of such insane persons.—If the person giving
any bond mentioned in the preceding section, or section sixteen hundred
and seventy, or his representative, shall deliver the insane person therein
mentioned to the sheriff of the county or sergeant of the corporation, ac-
cording to the condition of the bond, such sheriff or sergeant shall carry
the insane person before a judge or justice of his county or corporation,
and the same proceedings shall be thereupon had as in the case of a person
brought before a judge or justice under his warrant under section sixteen
hundred and sixty-nine.

'§ 1685. Conveyance of insane person to hospital by other person than
officer.—If such person or his representative shall desire to carry the in-
sane person to a hospital, he shall proceed in the manner in which the
sheriff or sergeant, to whom an insane person is delivered under the pre-
ceding section, is thereby required to proceed, and shall have the same
powers and perform the same duties as those of a sheriff or sergeant in
such case; the same course shall be pursued when the insane person ar-
rives at the hospital as if he had been carried there by a sheriff or other
officer as aforesaid.

§ 1697. When person adjudged insane, court to appoint committee of
him.—If a person be found to be insane by a judge or justice of the peace
before whom he is examined, or in a court in which he is charged with
crime, as aforesaid, the court of the county or corporation of which he is
an inhabitant shall appoint a committee for him.

§ 1702. Powers and duties of committees—The committee of an in-
sane person shall be entitled to the custody and control of his person
(when he resides in the State, and is not confined in a hospital or jail),
shall take possession of his estate, and may sue and be sued in respect
thereto, and for the recovery of debts due to or from the insane person.
He shall take care of and preserve such estate and manage it to the best
advantage; shall apply the personal estate, or so much as may be neces-
sary, to the payment of the debts of such insane person, and the rents and
profits of the residue of his estate, real and personal, and the residue of
the personal estate, or so much as may be necessary, to the maintenance of
such insane person and of his family, if any; and shall surrender the
estate, or so much as he may be accountable for, to such insane person, if
he shall be restored to sanity, or the real estate to his heirs or devisees,
and the personal estate to his executors or administrators, in case of his
death without having been restored to sanity.

$1707. Payment of expenses of insane infants and married women.—
The expenses of an insane infant (not paid by his committee) or of a
married woman incurred in his or her removal, maintenance, or care, shall
be paid within the time specified in the preceding section to euch person
as the board of directors of the hospital may designate, or into the public
treasury, as the case may be, by the guardian, if there be one who has suffi-
cient funds in hand, or if no guardian having sufficient estate of such
infant, then by his father, or if no father, by his mother, or by the hus-
band of an insane wife. If the husband has no sufficient estate the same
shall be paid out of any estate of the wife hable for her maintenance and
support.

§ 1710. Restriction on the commissioner, directors, officers, and em-
ployees.—Neither the commissioner of State hospitals for the insane, nor
any director, officer, or employee of a hospital, shall be personally in-
terested in any contract in relation to the said hospital or its support.

2. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with nls act are hereby re-
pene

. This act shall be in force from its passage.