Chap. 55.—An ACT to amend and re-enact certain sections of the Code of Virginia
as follows: Sections 1020 and 1022 as amended, 1030, 1031 as amended, 1032,
1033, 1034, 1035, 1037 and 1038, all relating to the care, custody and control of
insane and feeble-minded persons, epileptics and inebriates; and to amend the
Code of Virginia by adding seven new sections numbered 1020-a, 1035-a, 1035-b,
1037-a, 1037-b, 1037-c and 1037-d, all relating to various and several aspects
of the same subject. [S 46]

Approved February 24, 1944

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That sections one thousand twenty, one thousand twenty-two, and
one thousand thirty-one, as amended, and sections one thousand thirty,
one thousand thirty-two, one thousand thirty-three, one thousand thirty-
four, one thousand thirty-five, one thousand thirty-seven and one thou-
sand thirty-eight, be amended and re-enacted ; and that the Code of Vir-
ginia be amended by adding seven new sections numbered one thousand
twenty-a, one thousand thirty-five-a, one thousand thirty-five-b, one thou-
sand thirty-seven-a, one thousand thirty-seven-b, one thousand thirty-
seven-c, and one thousand thirty-seven-d, as follows:

Section 1020. What the judge or justice to do if person be insane,
or, et cetera—(a) If the commission decides that the person be insane,
fecble-minded, epileptic or inebriate and should 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, feeble-minded, epileptic or inebriate
person to be delivered to the care and custody of the sheriff of the county
or sergeant of the city or town to be kept and cared for by him in the
nearest State hospital or colony or special ward or room in the Medical
College of Virginia, or University of Virginia hospitals, or m a general
hospital approved by the State Hospital Board for such purpose, or in
some other convenient institution, likewise to be approved by the State
Hospital Board until such person is conveyed to a hospital or colony, or
otherwise discharged from custody. The cost of care before removal t
the State hospital or colony to which the patient is committed is to be
paid from the State Treasury from the same funds as for care in jail a
a rate not to exceed three dollars per day.

(b) If, either before commitment, or after commitment to a hospital
colony, or Veterans’ Administration Facility and before removal theretc
some responsible person will give bond, with sufficient surety, to be ap.
dition to restrain and take proper care of such insane, feeble-minded, epi:
leptic or inebriate person without cost to the Commonwealth, until con-
proved by the judge or justice, payable to the Commonwealth, with con-
veyed to a hospital Veterans’ Administration Facility, or colony or other-
wise discharged from custody, then said judge or justice may, in his dis.
cretion, commit such insane, feeble-minded, epileptic or inebriate per-
son to the custody of such person.

(c) If the justices find that the patient is an insane, feeble-minded
epileptic or inebriate person and ought to be confined, they may, upon
request of the patient’s friends, commit the patient to a private sanitarium,
there to be confined until removed by his or her friends or discharged by
the physician in charge of the institution. 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 sanitarium, 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,
feeble-minded, epileptic or inebriate to any State hospital or colony for the
care of such person until delivered to the proper institution or its author-
ized agent.

(d) Whenever it appears that the person so adjudged to be insane,
feeble-minded, epileptic or inebriate is a veteran eligible for treatment in
a Veterans’ Administration Facility, the judge or justice may, upon re-
ceipt of a certificate of eligibility from the Veterans’ Administration Fa-
cility concerned, commit the person to the Facility regardless of whether
the person is or is not a citizen of this State. Any veteran who has been
heretofore, or hereafter is 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 the Facility, or,
any veteran heretofore or hereafter committed to a V eterans’ Administra-
tion 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 the Facility, or to the 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 the Facility, as the case may be, or, in either such event, by order of
the judge or justice who committed the person. .

(e) Every veteran, after admission to the Veterans’ Administration
Facility, either upon commitment or transfer, shall be subject to the rules
and regulations of the Facility, and the manager of the Facility to which
the veteran is committed or transferred is 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,
-ustody, and discharge of the veteran so committed or transferred, and anv
discharge rendered by the manager upon a certificate of sanity shall be of
the same effect as that granted by the superintendent of a hospital or
colony, and the manager is vested with the same authority to parole or
otherwise discharge a veteran as committed or transferred as is now
vested in the superintendent of a hospital or colony in this State.

Section 1020-a. Unlawful for officer to use jail, or other place for
confinement of criminals, as a place of detention for insane, feeble-minded,
epileptic, or inebriate persons ; exception.—It is unlawful for the sheriff,
sergeant or other officer having in his custody any feeble-minded or in-
sane person, epileptic or inebriate, after the commitment of such person
to any hospital, colony or other institution to use any jail or other place
of confinement for criminals, as a place of detention for such feeble-
minded or insane person, epileptic or inebriate, unless there. be no State
hospital, colony, general hospital or other place available which has been
approved by the State Hospital Board, or unless the person be violent or
dangerous and it is necessary to confine him in jail.

Section 1022. Disposition of insane, epileptic, feeble-minded and 1n-
ebriate persons after commitment.—(a) The sheriff or sergeant to whose
custody an insane, epileptic, feeble-minded or inebriate person has been
committed or within whose bailiwick the commission is held, shall forth-
with on the same day the person is so adjudged make application to an
appropriate hospital or colony for the admission and transfer of the in-
sane, epileptic, feeble-minded or inebriate person to the hospital or colony
transmitting a copy of the record of proceedings before the commission
with the application. Unless otherwise instructed by the Commissioner
of Mental Hygiene and Hospitals, the sheriff or sergeant shall make the
application to the nearest appropriate hospital or colony.

(b) As soon as the record of proceedings before a commission of in-

sanity. feeble-mindedness, epilepsy, or inebriety, wherein a person 1s

found to be insane, feeble-minded, epileptic or inebriate, is filed in the
office of the county clerk or of the clerk of the corporation court, that off-
cer shal! at once notify the Commissioner of Mental Hygiene and Hos-
pitals, giving the name and age, sex, and color of the insane, epileptic,
feehle-minded, or inebriate person, the date of the finding of the com-
mission and the custody to which the insane, epileptic, feeble-mindec
or inebriate person was committed.

(c) If the insane, epileptic, feeble-minded or inebriate person has
been placed in jail, in accordance with the provisions of section one thou-
sand twenty-a, the officer placing him in jail shall immediately notify the
commissioner of that fact and the reasons for so doing.

Section 1030. Disposition of non-resident insane, epileptic, feeble
minded or inebriate person.—If it appears to the commission that the per-
son examined by it is an insane, epileptic, feeble-minded or inebriate per-
son and a non-resident of this State, the same proceedings shall be hac
with regard to him as if he were a resident of the State and being pro.
ceeded against under the provisions of this chapter, and if the non-res1
dent be received into a hospital or colony under these proceedings, a state
ment of the fact of his non-residence and of the place of his domicile, o
from which he came, as far as known, shall accompany any order respect-
ing him; and the superintendent shall, as soon as practicable, cause him
to be returned to his friends, if known, or the proper authorities of the
State or country from which he came, if ascertained and such return be
by the superintendent or court deemed expedient or practicable ; and in all
cases such person shall be otherwise treated and cared for as if he were a
resident of this State and subject to all the provisions of this chapter.
The expense incident to the transporting of any such non-resident person
to the place of his domicile or whence he came, shall be borne by the
county or city wherein the commission was held.

Section 1031. Providing for the voluntary admission of insane per-
sons to hospitals—(a) The superintendent of any State hospital or
colony for the care and treatment of the insane, may, subject to the rules
and regulations established by the State Hospital Board, receive and de-
tain therein, as a patient, any suitable person who is a legal resident of
the State, and is in the early stages of insanity and desirous of submit-
ting himself to treatment, and who voluntarily makes written application
therefor, and whose mental condition is such as to render him competent
to make the application, or understand it if made by another for him,
provided his admission does not deprive any person who has been com-
mitted of care and treatment in the hospital, or other institution for the
insane. ,

(b) A person thus received as a voluntary patient at such hospital
or institution shall not be detained under such voluntary agreement more
than ten days after notice in writing, given by him or by another for him,
with his knowledge and consent, of his intention or desire to leave the
hospital or institution.

(c) The superintendent or physician in charge of a State hospital
shall, after the admission of a patient by such voluntary agreement, pre-
sent to the board at its next meeting, a record of the patient, in accord-
ance with such rules and regulations as are established by the board.

(d) The cost of transportation of any such voluntary patient to and
from the hospital or institution shall not be borne by the hospital or
institution. Such voluntary patient shall be required to defray his ex-
penses for care and treatment while in the hospital or institution at a
rate fixed by the board but the charges shall not exceed the actual cost
for his care, maintenance and treatment.

(e) Upon making application for admission, such person shall, un-
less so exempted as hereinafter provided, furnish and deliver an obliga-
tion acceptable to the board, with sufficient surety (payable to the hos-
pital or institution in its corporate name), for the payment of such sum
of money as is designated by the board for his maintenance, care and
treatment while in the hospital or institution. _ .

(f) If, however, the voluntary patient is, in the opinion of the board,
unable financially to defray his hospital expenses for care, maintenance
and treatment, then the Board may, for reasons apparent to them and
stated on record, exempt the patient from the payment of these expenses.

Section 1032. To provide for the admission without commitment
into State hospital or colony for insane persons.—The superintendent of
any State hospital or colony for the care and treatment of the insane may,
without an order of a judge or justice, receive into his custody and detain
temporarily in the hospital or colony for the care and treatment of the
insane, a person whose case is certified by two licensed and reputable
physicians, neither of whom is in any manner related to or connected
by marriage with him or has any interest in his estate, after careful per-
sonal examination and inquiry, whose mental condition is found to be
such that it would be for his safety and benefit to receive proper hospital
care and treatment, and upon a written petition to the superintendent of
the hospital or institution made by some responsible person or persons.
No person who is an inebriate or drug addict shall be thus received or
detained.

Section 1033. What certificate of physicians must show.—The cer-
tificate of insanity executed by such physicians shall contain adequate
reasons why the alleged insane person should be received in a State hos-
pital or colony for the insane, and the examining physicians shall further-
more answer, as far as practicable, from their personal knowledge and
from information furnished by competent persons, the interrogatories pre-
scribed by law in the regular form of examination and commitment of in-
sane persons. By virtue of the certificate of insanity and urgent need
of custody and treatment and of the petition, the alleged insane person
may be received and detained in the State hospital or other institution for
the care and treatment of the insane, for a period not to exceed thirty days.

Section 1034. Power of superintendent as to such admissions.—The
superintendent of any such institution may refuse to receive the alleged
insane patient upon such certificate and petition, if, in his judgment, the
reasons stated in the certificate are not sufficient; or, 1f the mental con-
dition of the patient is not of such nature as to make it necessary that he
should receive hospital treatment and care. If the condition of the alleged
insane person seems to the superintendent of the hospital or institution
to justify it, and upon proper and satisfactory notice by wire, telephone,
in person or otherwise to the superintendent, the alleged insane person
may be forthwith conveyed to the hospital or institution by the person
applying for his admission or some other suitable person, who shall de-
liver to the superintendent the certificate, the petition and all other writ-
ten information relating to the case.

Section 1035. Duties of superintendent and judge or justice.—

(a) If any person admitted under sections one thousand thirty-two
and one thousand thirty-three is found to be insane, epileptic or feeble-
minded within thirty days after he is admitted to the hospital or colony,
the superintendent of the hospital or colony to which the person has
been admitted shall notify the judge of the circuit or corporation court,
or trial justice of the county or city from which the person was received.
The superintendent shall forward with the notification two copies of the
medical certificate and the order of commitment. The judge or justice
if satisfied that the proceedings and notification are in order shall execute
the order and return one copy to the superintendent of the hospital and
file the other in the office of the clerk of the circuit court of the county
or the clerk of the corporation or hustings court of the city who shall re-
cord it as provided in regular commitment proceedings in section on
thousand nineteen.

(b) If any person admitted under sections one thousand thirty
two and one thousand thirty-three is not found to be insane, epileptic o
feeble-minded within thirty days after he is admitted to the hospital o
colony, he shall be discharged, but in no case shall any such person b
held in the hospital or colony for more than forty days; unless in th
meantime he shall make application for further care and treatment as .
voluntary patient under the provisions of section one thousand thirty
one or is committed as an insane, epileptic or feeble-minded person unde:
sections one thousand seventeen and following.

(c) For services rendered under the preceding sections the sam:
fees shall be paid, to the same persons, from the same source, and in like
manner as provided by law in cases of regular commitments.

Section 1035-a. Admission of persons suspected of being insane
epileptic, or feeble-minded in state hospitals or colonies for observation.—
The judge of any circuit or corporation court, any trial justice or justice
of the peace. upon written request of any respectable citizen accompanied
by the certification of a duly licensed physician, who shall if practicable
be the person’s family physician, upon forms prescribed by the State
Hospital Board, commit to any State hospital or colony for observatior
as to his mental condition, any suitable person who is a legal resident ot
the State and not an inebriate or drug addict. A person thus committed
shall not be detained in the hospital or colony more than thirty days, un-
less he makes application for further care and treatment as a voluntary
patient subject to the provisions of section one thousand thirty-one, or is
committed as provided in the succeeding section. For services in con-
nection with this commitment the same fees shall be paid, to the same
persons, from the same source, and in like manner as provided by law in
cases of regular commitments.

Section 1035-b. How persons admitted for observation, studied and
committed as insane, feeble-minded or epileptic; when discharged.—Any
person in a State hospital or colony admitted under the preceding section
for observation may be committed as insane, epileptic or feeble-minded by
the judge, trial justice or justice of the peace originally acting in the
case, upon the duly sworn certificate of the superintendent of a State hos-
pital and one or more physicians of the hospital staff who have made a
careful psychiatric study to determine his mental condition, that the pati-
ent is insane, epileptic or feeble-minded. The same provisions as to filing
and recording are to be observed as in regular commitments. For services
rendered under provisions of this section no fees shall be payable to any
one.

Section 1037. Provisions for the insane, epileptic and feeble-minded
not in State hospitals or colonies.—The State Hospital Board is hereby
authorized and. empowered to cause persons adjudged insane, epileptic
or feeble-minded and confined in the different jails of the Commonwealth
to be supported and maintained outside of the hospitals and colonies of
the State until they can be provided for therein, and the board shall re-
move, as soon as practicable, after the effective date of this amendment,
all such persons from the jails and place them in hospitals, institutions or
private families, approved by the board, as provided elsewhere in this
chapter, and to make all necessary and proper arrangements for their
transportation, support and maintenance. Upon a written order from the
board any sheriff, sergeant or other officer, having the custody of any
such person in Jail, shall release him to the board or its duly authorized
representative.

Section 1037-a. Board with private families—The superintendent of
each State hospital and colony may place at board at the expense of the
Commonwealth in a suitable family in this State approved by the State
Hospital Board and under such rules and regulations as to it appear
proper, any patient in the hospital or colony who is quiet and not danger-
ous, nor committed as a dipsomaniac or inebriate, nor addicted to the
intemperate use of narcotics or stimulants. The cost to the Common-
wealth of the board and lodging of such patients supported at the public
expense shall not exceed seven dollars a week for each patient.

Section 1037-b. Patients in homes; special training.—The superin-
tendent of each State hospital and colony may place at board under his
direction and supervision in private homes, with provisions for special
training, such patients as he believes may be benefited from a period of
training. The number of patients as well as the homes in which they are
placed, shall be approved by the State Hospital Board, and the cost to
the Commonwealth for such patients shall not be limited by the amount
specified in the preceding section, but shall be upon terms prescribed by
the board.

Section 1037-c. Expenses of private boarding.—The bills for the
support of patients who are placed at board in families under the provi-
sions of this chapter shall be payable monthly by the hospital or colony
having custody or control of the patient.

Section 1037-d. Board with private families; investigation of living
conditions.—The State Hospital Board shall designate some competent
person to visit patients who are boarded in private homes, as provided in
the preceding sections, who shall visit these patients at intervals of not
less than three months, to ascertain the manner in which they are being
cared for, and shall make a written report to the superintendent of the
conditions found to exist. In any instance in which it is found that a
patient is neglected, improperly cared for, or abused, he shall be removed.

Section 1038. How expenses paid.—Except as otherwise provided,
the expenses of removing, supporting, and maintaining any insane, epi-
leptic or feeble-minded person, incurred under this act, shall be paid out
of the appropriation for the hospital to which the person is committed,
upon the order of the State Hospital Board.