CHAPTER 103

An Act to amend the Code of Virginia by adding thereto a section num-
bered 16.1-178.2, so as to permit juvenile and domestic relations
courts and the Department of Welfare and Institutions to commtt
certain juveniles to the Department of Mental Hygiene and Hospitals
under certain circumstances.

[H 250]

Approved February 25, 1960

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia be amended by adding thereto a section
numbered 16.1-178.2, as follows:

§ 16.1-178.2. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, when any
juvenile and domestic relations court has adjudged as delinquent a juvenile
coming within the provisions of paragraphs (g), (h) and (i) of subsection
(1) of § 16.1-158, and is satisfied that he or she is a mental defective, such
court may commit such juvenile to an appropriate State hospital for
observation as to his or her mental condition, whereupon the proceedings
shall be in accordance with the provisions of §§ 37-99 to 37-102, inclusive,
of the Code of Virginia, and to that end, such juvenile and domestic rela-
tions court judge is hereby vested with the powers of commitment set forth
in § 37-102. After commitment of any juvenile to the State Board of Wel-
fare and Institutions, if the Department of Welfare and Institutions finds,
as a result of psychiatric examinations and case study, that such juvenile
is a mental defective, it may transfer such juvenile to an appropriate State
hospital for observation as to his or her mental condition, whereupon the
proceedings shall be in accordance with the provisions hereof.