Chap. 244.—An ACT to amend and re-enact Sections 1017 and 1020, of the Code of
Virginia, as heretofore amended, relating to commissions on insanity, epilepsy,

and inebriacy, and the commitment and transfer of such persons to certain
institutions. [H B 407]
Approved March 27, 1940

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That
sections ten hundred and seventeen and ten hundred and twenty of
the Code of Virginia, as heretofore amended, be amended and re-
enacted so as to read as follows:

Section 1017. Any circuit or corporation judge, or any justice of
the peace, or trial justice of any county or city, who suspects any
person in his county or city to be insane, epileptic or inebriate, or
upon the written complaint and information of any respectable
citizen, shall issue his warrant, ordering such person to be brought
before him, and he shall summon two licensed and reputable phy-
sicians (one of whom shall, when practicable, be the physician of the
suspected person, and neither shall in 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 constitute a commission to
inquire whether such person be insane, epileptic or inebriate and a
suitable subject for a hospital or colony for the care and treatment
of insane, epileptic and inebriate persons, and for that purpose the
judge or the justice shall summon witnesses. The physicians shall,
in the presence of the judge or justice (if practicable), by personal
examination of such person, and by inquiry, satisfy themselves and
the judge or justice as to the mental condition of the person being
examined. 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 and transcribed in writing.

Section 1020. What the judge or justice to do if person be insane,
or, et cetera.—If the commission decides that the person be insane,
epileptic or inebriate and ought to be confined in a hospital or colony
and ascertain that he is a citizen of this State, then the judge or
justice shall order such insane, epileptic or inebriate person to be
delivered to the care and custody of the sheriff of the county or ser-
geant of the city, to be safely kept and cared for in jail or other in-
stitution by him until he is conveyed to a hospital or colony, or other-
wise discharged from custody. If, either before commitment, or
after commitment to a hospital, colony, or Veterans’ Administration
Facility and before removal thereto some responsible person will
give bond, with sufficient surety, to be approved by the judge or
justice, payable to the Commonwealth, with condition to restrain
and take proper care of such insane, epileptic or inebriate person
without cost to the Commonwealth, until conveyed to a hospital,
Veterans’ Administration Facility, or colony or otherwise discharged
from custody, then said judge or justice may, in his discretion, com-
mit such insane, epileptic or inebriate person to the custody of such
person. If the justices find that the patient is an insane, epileptic or
inebriate person and ought to be confined, they may, upon request
of the patient’s friends, commit said patient to a private sanatarium,
there to be confined until removed by his or her friends or discharged
by the physician in charge of such institution; but in no event shall
such patient be kept in any such institution for a period exceeding
four months. Neither the State nor any county, city, or town thereof
shall be liable in any event for any costs or charges of sending a patient
to a private sanatarium, or connected with or arising out of his being
sent there. The sheriff shall be responsible for the safe-keeping and
proper care of any person committed as insane, epileptic or inebriate
to any State hospital or colony for the care of such person until de-
livered to the proper institution or its authorized agent. Whenever
it appears that the person so adjudged to be insane, epileptic or in-
ebriate is a veteran eligible for treatment in a Veterans’ Administra-
tion Facility, the judge or justice may, upon receipt of a certificate
of eligibility from the Veterans’ Administration Facility concerned,
commit such person to such Facility regardless of whether such per-
son is or is not a citizen of this State. Any veteran who has been
heretofore, or may hereafter be committed to a State hospital, or
colony, or otherwise, who is eligible for treatment in a Veterans’
Administration Facility may, with the written consent of the manager
of such facility, or, any veteran heretofore or hereafter committed
to a Veterans’ Administration Facility, if he be a resident of this
State, who is otherwise eligible for treatment in a State hospital or
colony, may, with the written consent of the State Hospital Board,
be transferred to such facility, or to such State hospital or colony, as
the case may be, by order of the superintendent of the State hospital,
or colony or otherwise, or by order of the manager of such facility, as
the case may be, or, in either such event, by order of the judge or
justice who committed such person. Any such veteran, after ad-
mission to such Veterans’ Administration Facility, either upon
commitment or transfer, shall be subject to the rules and regulations
of such facility, and the manager of the facility to which such veteran
is committed or transferred shall be vested with the same powers
authorized by law to be exercised by the superintendent of the State
hospital, colony or otherwise, in this State with reference to retention
or custody or discharge of the veteran so committed or transferred,
and any discharge rendered by such manager upon a certificate of
sanity shall be of the same effect as that granted by the superintendent
of a hospital or colony, and such manager is hereby vested with the
same authority to parole or otherwise discharge a veteran so com-
mitted or transferred as is now vested in the superintendent of a
hospital or colony in this State.