CHAPTER 231

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 19.1-227 through 19.1-231, 19.1-284 and
19.1-289 of the Code of Virginia, relating to persons charged with
crime who are, or are suspected of being, insane or feeble-minded;
and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered
19.1-280.1, to provide for a commission to inquire into the mental
condition of such persons under certain conditions. 5 ap

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Approved March 31, 1964

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 19.1-227 through 19.1-231, 19.1-234 and 19.1-239 of the Code
of Virginia be amended and reenacted, and that the Code of Virginia be
amended by adding a section numbered 19.1-230.1, as follows:

§ 19.1-227. No person shall, while he is insane or feeble-minded, be
tried for a criminal offense; nor shall any person charged with a felony be
committed to any hospital or other institution for the mentally ill except
by order of the court of record, or judge thereof, which has, or would
have upon certification and indictment, jurisdiction of the trial of the case.

§ 19.1-228. If, prior to * arraignment of any person charged with
crime, either the court or attorney for the Commonwealth or counsel for
the accused has reason to believe that such person is in such mental condi-
tion that his confinement in a hospital for the insane * is necessary for
proper care and observation, in order for the court to determine whether
such person is mentally competent to plead and stand trial, the court or
the judge thereof may, after hearing evidence or the representations of
counsel on the subject, commit such person, if a white person, to *
the Southwestern State Hospital and, if a colored person, to the Central
State Hospital for observation and report, under such limitations as it may
order, pending the determination of his mental condition. In any such
case the court, in its discretion, may appoint one or more physicians skilled
in the diagnosis of insanity, or other qualified physicians, and when any
person is alleged to be feeble-minded may likewise appoint persons skilled
in the diagnosis of feeble-mindedness, not to exceed three, to examine the
defendant before such commitment is ordered, make such investigation
of the case as they may deem necessary and report to the court the condi-
tion of the defendant at the time of their examination. A copy of the
complaint or indictment, attested by the clerk, together with the report
of the examining commission, including, as far as possible, a personal
history, according to the form prescribed by the * State Hosmtal Board,
shall be delivered with such person to the superintendent of the hospital to
which he shall have been committed under the provisions of this section.
As used in this section the term “court” shall be construed to include
courts not of record and courts of record.

§ 19.1-229. If, at any time after arraignment, a court in which a
person is held for trial see reasonable ground to doubt his sanity or men-
tality at the time at which, but for such a doubt, he would be tried, *
the court may suspend the trial, declare a mistrial, and * then proceed as
prescribed in * § 19.1-228, all of which action shall be without prejudice
to the right of the Commonwealth to retry the accused when his men-
tality has been determined.

§ 19.1-230. If any such person * committed for observation pursuant to
§§ 19.1-228 or 19.1-229 to the department for the criminal insane at the
proper hospital is, in the opinion of the superintendent, not insane or
feeble-minded, or when such person, if insane, has been restored to
sanity, the superintendent shall give ten days’ notice in writing to the
clerk of the court from which such person was committed and shall send
such person back to the jail or custody from which he was removed, where
he shall be held in accordance with the terms of the process by which he
was originally committed or confined.

§ 19.1-280.1. If any such person so committed for observation pur-
suant to §§ 19.1-228 or 19.1-229 to the department for the criminal insane
at the proper hospital is, in the opinion of the superintendent, insane or
feeble-minded, the superintendent shall report such finding to the court
from which such person was committed but shall retain custody of such
person subject to the further order of the court. And upon receiving such
report the court may appoint a commission of not to exceed three physi-
cians, any or all of whom may be from the staff of the hospital where the
person is committed for observation, who shall inquire into the fact as
to the sanity or mentality of such person and report their findings to the
court.

§ 19.1-231. If the * commission find the accused to be sane at the time
of their * examination, they shall make no other inquiry and the trial in
chief shall proceed. If the * commission find that he is insane or feeble-
minded at the time of their * examination the court shall order him to
be confined in the department for criminal insane at the proper hospital
until he is so restored that he can be put upon his trial.

§ 19.1-234. If, after conviction and before sentence of any person,
the court see reasonable ground to doubt his sanity or mentality, it may *
appoint a commission of insanity to inquire into the fact as to his sanity
or mentality and may sentence him or commit him to jail or to * the
proper hospital for the insane as set forth in § 19.1-228 according as the
* commission may find him to be sane or insane or feeble-minded.

§ 19.1-239. When the defense is insanity or feeble-mindedness of the
defendant at the time the offense was committed, the jury shall be in-
structed, if they acquit him on that ground, to state the fact with their
verdict. If the jury so find the court shall thereupon if it deem his dis-
charge dangerous to the public peace or safety, order him to be committed
to * the proper State hospital for the insane as set forth in 8 19.1-228 and
be confined there under special observation and custody until the super-
intendent of that hospital and the superintendent of any other State
hospital or * colony shall pronounce him sane and safe to be at large.