CHAPTER 465

AN ACT to amend and reenact Title 37 of the Code of 1950 contain-
ing sections numbered 37-1 through 37-260, the title and sec-
tions relating to insane, epileptic, feebleminded, inebriate and
drug addicts; the. Department and Commissioner of Mental
Hygiene and Hospitals; and the State Hospital Board; to
amend the Code of 1950 by adding in Title 37 sections num-
bered 37-1.1, 37-34.1, 37-61.1, 37-71.1, 37-110.1, 37-126.1, 37-132.1,
37-185.1, 37-153.1, 37-254.1, 37-257.1 and 37-257.2 relating to the
same matters and to repeal §§ 37-43, 37-82 and 387-179 of the
Code of 1950.

[S 235]

Approved April 7, 1950

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That Title 37 of the Code of 1950 containing sections num-
bered 37-1 through 37-260 be amended and reenacted and that Title
37 of the Code of 1950 be amended by adding sections numbered
37-1.1, 37-34.1, 37-61.1, 37-71.1, 37-110.1, 37-126.1, 37-1382.1, 37-135.1,
37--153.1, 37-254.1, 37-257.1 and 37-257.2, the amended and new sec-
tions being as follows:

§ 37-1.1 Definitions.—As used in this title, the following words
shall have the meanings ascribed to them:

(1) “Mentally-ill’ means an insane person or one who is an
idiot, lunatic, non compos mentis or deranged.

(2) “Mentally-deficient” means feebleminded, idiot or imbecile.

(3) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Mental Hy-
giene and Hospitals.

(4) “Department” means the Department of Mental Hygiene
and Hospitals.

(5) “Board” means the State Hospital Board.

(6) “Legal resident” means any person who has lived in this
State for a period of one year without public support for himself
or his spouse or minor children; and

(7) “Justice” or “trial justice” includes police justices or civil
and police justices of cities, but ercept as hereinafter provided
shall not include a justice of the peace or mayor.

§ 37-3. Use of departments for criminal mentally-ill.—The
departments for the criminal mentally-ill shall be used for the pur-
pose of holding in custody and caring for such persons as are de-
clared mentally-ill or mentally-deficient after conviction of any
crime and while serving sentence therefor in the penitentiary, or in
any other penal institution, or in any of the reformatories or else-
where; persons in custody under complaint or indictment for any
crime who prior to trial are adjudged mentally-tll or mentally-de-
ficient; such persons in custody under complaint or indictment
for any crime as the court in its discretion orders there for proper
care and observation pending the determination of their mental
condition; persons who have been adjudged mentally-ill or men-
tally-deficient at the time when, but for * such adjudication, they
should have been tried; and such other regularly committed pa-
tients as in the opinion of the superintendent require confinement
in such departments, provided that the confinement of each of those
in the last mentioned classification shall be reported by the super-
intendent together with his reasons for their confinement to the
State Hospital Board at its next meeting following.

§ 37-7. Transfer of patients from one institution to another.
—A patient committed to any of such hospitals or colonies, except
one committed by court order to one of the departments for the
criminal mentally-tll, may be transferred by order of the * Com-
missioner to any other of the hospitals or colonies and when so
transferred is hereby declared to be a lawfully committed patient
of the hospital or colony to which he is transferred, provided no
white person shall be transferred to an institution used exclusively
for colored persons or vice versa.

§ 37-9. Appointment, qualifications and compensation of sup-
erintendents.—The State Hospital Board shall appoint quadren-
nially, for terms to commence at the expiration of the terms of the
present incumbents, a superintendent for each hospital for the
mentally-ll and each colony for epileptics and the mentally-de-
ficient who shall be a skilled physician.

The compensation of such superintendents shall be as _ pre-
scribed by law.

§ 37-14. Duty to study and investigate subjects relating to
mental diseases and hygiene.—In addition to the other duties im-
posed on the State Hospital Board and the superintendents of the
respective hospitals and colonies, they shall in every way consistent
give attention to the collection of statistics bearing on mental-
illness, mental-deficiency, epilepsy and inebriety, as well as to the
study of cause, pathology, and prevention of mental defects and
diseases, and shall so far as their resources will permit, provide
such moral and vocational training, and medical and surgical treat-
ment as will tend to the mental and physical betterment of
patients, and lessen the increase of mental-illness, epilepsy, in-
ebriety, and mental-deficiency and the Board shall encourage the
superintendents and their medical staffs in the investigation of
all subjects relating to mental diseases and defects and mental
hygiene.

§ 37-16. Mistreatment of patients in hospital or colony.—
Any officer or employee or other person who shall maltreat or mis-
use any person confined in any hospital or colony or one lawfully
committed to a hospital or colony, who may be absent on bond or
furlough, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor.

§ 37-17. Independent unit of Department.—The DeJarnette
State Sanatorium for * pay patients, shall be an independent unit
within the State Department of Mental Hygiene and Hospitals,
and shall be under the control, supervision and direction of the
State Hospital Board in the same manner as all other State hos-
pitals and colonies.

§ 37-24. Patients.—Patients material may be derived for the
program of study, research and treatment from selected patients
who have been committed to one of the Virginia State hospitals
and who shall be transferred to the Institute by order of the Com-
missioner of Mental Hygiene and Hospitals * .

§ 37-26. Creation.—For the supervision, management and con-
trol of the several State institutions mentioned in §§ 37-1, 37-4 and
37-5, and such other similar institutions as may hereafter be estab-
lished, all of which institutions, whether heretofore or hereafter
established, are hereinafter referred to as State hospitals or colo-
nies, there shall be a single board of directors, to be known and
referred to as the State Hospital Board. *

§ 37-32. Visiting hospitals and colonies.—The Board or some
duly authorized agent shall visit and inspect the several hospitals
and colonies under its supervision and control at least once each
year.

§ 37-34.1. Board duties relative to new construction.—The
Board, subject to the approval of the Governor, shall select the site
of any new State hospital and any land to be taken or purchased
by the Commonwealth for the purposes of any new or existing
State hospital. It shall have charge of the construction of any new
building at any such State hospital, shall determine the design
thereof, and for this purpose may employ architects and other ez-
perts or hold competitions for plans and designs. If any land or
property is taken or purchased by the board, title shall be taken
in the name of the Commonwealth.

§ 37-39. * Cooperation of communities, ete.—The Board *
shall seek and encourage cooperation and active participation
of communities, organizations, agencies, and individuals in the
effort to establish and maintain mental health programs and
services.

§ 37-40. * Long range plans.—The Board * shall initiate and
direct the development of long range programs and plans with re-
spect to mental hygiene and hospital services provided by the State,
to the end that these services may grow and improve in a steady,
coordinated. manner.

§ 37-41. * Programs of public information.—The Board *
shall develop programs of public information and education, for the
purpose of promoting an understanding and appreciation of State
mental hygiene and hospital services among the citizens of the
State.

§ 37-42. Annual reports to Governor.—The * Commissioner
shall submit to the Governor * not later than November thirtieth
following the close of each fiscal year, an annual report showing
the activities and operations of the Department of Mental Hygiene
and Hospitals during such year, and such other information as the
Board deems desirable.

§ 37-42.1. Contents of report—The Commissioner with the ap-
proval of the Board shall make annually to the Governor, to be
transmitted to the General Assembly, a complete report of the
affairs of each hospital and colony, especially as to the condition
of buildings and grounds and the conduct of business affairs, fur-
nish estimates of money needed for maintenance, repairs and build-
ings, and make recommendations for the improvement of the hos-
pitals and colonies and their management.

§ 37-46. Access to records, accounts and reports.—The Board
or its duly authorized agent shall at all times have access to such
records, accounts and reports required to be kept under the pro-
visions of this title.

§ 37-47. Private funds provided for patients—The State Hos-
pital Board is hereby authorized and empowered, in its discretion,
to provide for tl:e deposit with the * superintendent or other proper
officer of any hospital or colony under the supervision, management
and control of the Board, of any money given or provided for the
purpose of supplying extra comforts, conveniences or services to
any patients therein and any money otherwise received and held
from, for or on behalf of any such patient.

§ 37-53. Creation and supervision of Department.—The De-
partment of Mental Hygiene and Hospitals is established under the
supervision, management and control of the State Hospital Board. *

_§ 37-61. Judge or justice to issue warrant on own suspicion
or complaint of citizen—Any circuit or corporation judge, * or any
trial justice, * when any person in his county or city is alleged to
be mentally-ill, epileptic, mentally-deficient or inebriate, upon the
written complaint and information of any respectable citizen, shall
issue his warrant, ordering such person to be brought before him.
The judge or justice may issue the warrant on his own motion.

In any county in which no trial justice resides, the judge of
the circuit court may appoint one justice of the peace in such
county to assist him in carrying out the duties and powers con-
ferred by this title. Each justice of the peace so appointed by the
judge shall serve under the supervision and at the pleasure of the
judge making the appointment and shall be vested with all the
powers conferred by this title on trial justices.

§ 37-61.1. Admission procedures.—Any person alleged or certi-
fied to be mentally-tll or mentally defective and in need of tnstitu-
tional care and treatment, and who is not in confinement on a
criminal charge, may be admitted to and confined in a State or
private institution by compliance with any one of the following
procedures:

(1) voluntary admission
(2) commitment for observation
(3) general commitment

§ 37-62. Summoning of two physicians who with judge or
justice constitute commission.—The judge, * or trial justice men-
tioned in § 37-61 shall summon two licensed and reputable physi-
cians. One of the physicians shall, when practicable, be the
physician of the * person who is alleged to be mentally-ill, epileptic,
mentally-defictent, or inebriate, 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 con-
stitute a commission to inquire whether such person be mentally-
ill, epileptic, mentally-deficient or inebriate and a suitable subject
for a hospital or colony for the care and treatment of mentally-tll,
epileptic, mentally-deficient, and inebriate persons, and for that
purpose the judge or the justice shall summon witnesses.

§ 37-63. Physicians to satisfy themselves and judge or justice
of mental condition.—The physicians shall, in the presence of the
judge or justice, if practicable, by personal exa) ination of such
person, and by inquiry, satisfy themselves and the judge or justice
* that the person being examined shows sufficient cvidence of being
mentally-ill, mentally-deficient, epileptic, or inebriate to warrant
his commitment to a State hospital for observation.

§ 37-67. Forms required in commitment.—The State Hospital
Board shall prescribe'and prepare the forms required in the com-
mitment of mentally-tll, mentally-deficient, epileptic and inebriate
persons.

The State Hospital Board shall cause to be printed the forms
thus prescribed for commitment in separate parts, one to consist
of the warrant of arrest and application therefor, the medical
certificate and the order of commitment, the other to consist of the
interrogatories and answers thereto. These forms, which shall be
the sole legal forms used in such commitments and admissions,
shall be distributed by the State Hospital Board to the clerks of
the circuit and corporation courts of the various counties and
cities of the State and to the superintendents of the respective
State hospitals for the mentally-ill and the colonies for epileptics
and mentally-deficient.
§ 37-68. Duplicate record of application and warrant of arrest,
medical certificate and order of commitment.—That part of the
record of proceedings under this chapter for the commitment of
mentally-ill, epileptic, inebriate and mentally-deficient persons, con-
sisting of the warrant of arrest and application therefor, the
medical certificate and the order of commitment shall be made in
duplicate.

§ 37-69. One copy transmitted to superintendent and one
copy * kept by judge.—One of such copies shall be transmitted by
the judge or justice to the superintendent of the hospital or colony
to which admission is sought, and the other copy filed * by the
clerk of the court of the county or city in which deeds are ad-
mitted to record. The clerk shall enter the copy sent him in a
book to be supplied by his county or city, shall properly index the
same and shall not permit the same to be kept open to public in-
spection.

§ 37-70. Interrogatories and answers transmitted to super-
intendent but not filed with clerk.—That part of the record of pro-
ceedings * for the commitment of mentally-tll, epileptic, inebriate
and mentally-deficient persons consisting of the interrogatories and
answers thereto, containing the details of the patient’s medical his-
tory, shall not be filed in the clerk’s office with the other records
but shall be transmitted directly to the superintendent of the
hospital or colony to which admission is sought, together with the
copy of the warrant of arrest and application therefor, the medical
certificate and the order of commitment.

§ 37-71. * Finding of mental-illness, etc.; order for delivery
to State hospit 1 or colony; cost of care before removal.—If the
commission dec des that the person shows sufficient evidence of
being mentally-ll, mentally-deficient, epileptic or inebriate and
should be confined in a hospital or colony, and ascertains that he
is a * legal resident of this State, then the judge or justice shall
order such * person to be delivered to the care * 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 in 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
*. The cost of care before removal to 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 *.

§ 37-71.1. Appeal from commitment.—Any person found to
be mentally-ill, mentally-deficient, inebriate or epileptic by a com-
mission shall within fifteen days thereafter have the right of ap-
peal to the court of record of the county or city to which appeals
in civil cases from any court not of record in the county or city
are taken. Such appeals shall be tried in the county or city in
which the commission ig held. From the judgment of the court on
such appeal a person taking the appeal shall have an appeal of
right to the Supreme Court of Appeals. Pending disposition of
either appeal the person taking the appeal shall be held in such
place as the Commission has designated in its order of commitment
or, in the discretion of the Commissioner, such other place as he
deems appropriate. In the case of appeals to a court of record
the procedure thereon shall conform to appeals in civil cases and
the person taking the appeal shall have the right to demand a jury
of seven. Appeals to the Supreme Court of Appeals shall be per-
fected as prescribed by law or in such manner as the Supreme
Court of Appeals may prescribe.

§ 37-72. Responsibility of sheriff prior to delivery to institu-
tion.—The sheriff shall be responsible for the safe keeping and
proper care of any person committed * to any State hospital or
colony * until delivered to the proper institution or its authorized
agent.

§ 37-73. Commitment of veteran to, or transfer to or from,
a Veterans’ Administration Facility—Whenever it appears that
the person so * found to be mentally-ill, mentally-deficient, epilep-
tic or inebriate is a veteran eligible for treatment in a Veterans’
Administration Facility, the judge or justice may, upon receipt
of a certificate of eligibility from the Veterans’ Administration
Facility concerned, commit the person to the Facility regardless of
whether the person is or is not a * legal resident 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 treat-
ment 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 Veterans’ Administration Facility, if
he be a legal resident of this State, who is otherwise eligible for
treatment in a State hospital or colony, may, with the written *
authorization of the * Commissioner, be transferred to the Facility,
or to the State hospital or colony, as the case may be.

§ 37-74. Veterans committed or transferred to Facility sub-
ject to rules; power and authority of * medical officer in charge.—
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 * medical officer
in charge 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, custody, and
discharge of the veteran so committed or transferred, and any
discharge rendered by the medical officer upon a certificate of
sanity shall be of the same effect as that granted by the superin-
tendent of a hospital or colony, and the * medical officer is vested
with the same authority to parole or otherwise discharge a veteran
so committed or transferred as is now vested in the superintendent
of a hospital or colony in this State.

§ 37-75. Fees and expenses of commitment.—The two physi-
cians shall receive a fee of five dollars each for their services. The
justice * shall receive a fee of two dollars for his services if he ts
not paid an annual salary but if he be so paid he shall receive no
fee; provided, however, that in cities having a population of more
than forty thousand according to the last official United States cen-
sus, the fee of the justice * shall be five dollars. The officer making
the arrest and summoning the commission and witnesses shall re-
ceive the same fees as are allowed for like services in a felony case.
The witnesses regularly summoned before such commission shall re-
ceive such compensation for their attendance and mileage as is al-
lowed witnesses summoned to testify before grand juries. The justice
and each physician shall receive like mileage. All expenses in-
curred, whether such person be committed to any State hospital or
colony or not, including the fees, attendance and mileage aforesaid,
shall be paid by the county or city of which such person was a
legal resident at the time of such commitment; provided, that if
such person’s residence is not established in the State of Virginia,
costs shall be paid by the State. Any such fees, costs and expenses
incurred in connection with the examination of any person under
the provisions of §§ 37-61 to 37-65, when paid by any county or
city, shall be recovered by such county or city from the person so
examined, or from his estate, in an appropriate action or proceed-
ing for such purpose; provided, no such fee or costs shall be re-
covered from any person or his estate when he is found sane or not
subject to commitment under §§ 37-61 to 37-65 of the Code.

§ 37-76. Application by sheriff or sergeant for admission of
committed person.—The sheriff or sergeant to whose custody any
* person has been committed or within whose bailiwick the com-
mission ig held, shall forthwith on the same day the person is so
adjudged make application to an appropriate hospital or colony
for the admission and transfer of the * 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 hos-
pital or colony.

§ 37-77: Clerk to give notice of filing record to Commissioner
of Mental Hygiene and Hospitals.—As soon as the record of pro-
ceedings before a commission * wherein a person is found to be
mentally-ill, mentally-defictent, epileptic or inebriate, is filed in the
office of the * clerk of the court pursuant to § 37-69, * such clerk
shall at once notify the Commissioner of Mental Hygiene and Hos-
pitals, giving the name and age, sex, and color of the mentally-ill,
epileptic, mentally-deficient, or inebriate person, the date of the
finding of the commission and the custody to which the mentally-
ill, epileptic, mentally-deficient or inebriate person was committed.

§ 37-78. Detention in jail after commitment to hospital or
colony.—It is unlawful for the sheriff, sergeant or other officer hav-
ing in his custody any mentally-ill, mentally-deficient, epileptic or
inebriate person 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 *
person, * 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 ig necessary to confine him in jail.

If the mentally-ill, epileptic, mentally-deficient or inebriate
person has been placed in jail, in accordance with the provisions
of this section, the officer placing him in jail shall immediately
notify the Commissioner of Mental Hygiene and Hospitals of that
fact and the reasons for doing so.

§ 37-79. Procedure when person in jail not sent for within
six days.—If the superintendent of a hospital or colony fails to
send for and convey to his hospital or colony any mentally-ill,
epileptic, metally-deficient or inebriate person confined in jail
within six days after the commitment of such person to jail, the
sheriff or sergeant shall notify the Commissioner of Mental Hy-
giene and Hospitals by telephone or telegraph or other prompt
means whereupon the Commissioner shall forthwith order the
sheriff or sergeant in whose custody such person is held to convey
him to some hospital, designating in his order the hospital or
colony to which such person shall be taken. It shall be the duty of
such sheriff or sergeant to obey such order at once, and the super-
intendent of such hospital or colony shall receive and care for
such person.

If any hospital or colony has become so crowded that it is im-
possible to accommodate more such persons therein, the Commis-
sioner shall give notice of the fact to all sheriffs and sergeants,
and shall designate the hospitals to which they shall make applica-
tion for the admission of such persons; but he shall at all times
so arrange that such persons confined in jail shal] be removed to a
hospital or colony within ten days if practicable.

§ 37-80. Jail allowance for board, attention, etc.—The allow-
ance of any sheriff, sergeant or jailor for the board of any men-
tally-ill, epileptic, mentally-deficient or inebriate person confined in
his jail shall be the same as allowed for prisoners confined therein.
The judge of the court shall fix the allowance for any extra food
which may be needed, medical attention, nursing, comfortable
clothing and bedding. Such account shall be certified by the court
as criminal expenses are certified to the Comptroller, for payment
and be paid out of the * State treasury. When the same attendant,
nurse or physician is employed to attend any sick in any jail as
well as mentally-ill, epileptic, mentally-deficient or inebriate per-
sons, the court shall apportion the allowance therefor so as to
ascertain how much is to be allowed for each person.

§ 37-81. Not to be confined in cells with criminals.—In no
case shall any sheriff, sergeant or jailor confine any mentally-ill,
epileptic, mentally-deficient, or inebriate person in a cell or room
with prisoners charged with or convicted of crime.

§ 37-83. Sergeant or sheriff to see that person to be delivered
is clean and free from disease.—Before delivering a mentally-ill,
epileptic, mentally-deficient or inebriate person to the authorities
of a hospital or colony, 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.

§ 37-84. Delivery by sergeant or sheriff to agent of hospital.—
All persons applying for admission to any hospital or colony shall
be, when so required by the superintendent of such hospital or
colony, delivered to the agent of such hospital or colony at the
nearest or most convenient railroad station * to be designated by
such superintendent, at the expense of the county or city of the
person committed, provided that the station * designated by the
superintendent shall not involve a travel at the expense of any
such county or city of a greater distance by rail or boat than
twenty-five miles from the nearest railroad station * at the court-
house of the county or city of commitment or of the residence of
the person committed.

§ 37-85. Escape, sickness, death or discharge of person in cus-
tody of sergeant or sheriff.—If any person who has been committed
to a hospital or colony, while in the custody of a sheriff, sergeant
or other person, shall escape, become too sick to travel, die, or be
discharged by due process of law, the sheriff, sergeant, or other
person shall immediately notify the * Commissioner of that fact.

§ 37-86.1. Admission of persons * found to be mentally-ill,
etc.—All persons who have been * found to be mentally-ill, epileptic,
mentally-deficient or inebriate, who have made or may hereafter
make application for admission into a State hospital or colony
shall be received, so long as there is a vacancy. The superintendent
of the several State hospitals and colonies shall be required to send
promptly for such persons and receive them until all vacancies in
such hospitals or colonies are filled.

§ 37-86.2. Examination of papers by superintendent; return
for correction.—Upon the receipt of any interrogatories and papers
of commitment * of any mentally-ill, epileptic, mentally-deficient
or inebriate person, the superintendent of the hospital or colony
shall carefully examine the same and if they are found to be in
conformity with the law and contain evidence * tending to show
that such person is mentally-ill, mentally-deficient, epileptic or in-
ebriate, the superintendent shall forthwith send for the patient
and receive him into the hospital or colony. If the commitment
papers do not conform to law and do not contain satisfactory and
sufficient evidence * of mental illness, mental deficiency, epilepsy
or inebriety, the superintendent shall return such papers to the
sheriff or sergeant for correction, or amendment as to additional
evidence, by the court or justice or proper members of the
commission.

§ 37-87. Attendants to conduct persons to hospitals and
colonies.—When application is made to the superintendent of a
hospital or colony for the admission of a mentally-ill, epileptic,
mentally-deficient or inebriate person, he shall forthwith send an
attendant from the hospital or colony to conduct such * person to
the hospital or colony. Female attendants shall be assigned to
convey female patients to the hospital or colony. If for any reason
it is impracticable to employ an attendant 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 the * person is held to convey him to the hospital or colony.
If such * person is conveyed to the hospital or colony by an attend-
ant from the hospital or colony, or by some person appointed by
the superintendent, a certificate for transportation for attendant
and * the person committed shall be furnished by the superin-
tendent of the hospital or colony. If such * person is conveyed to
the hospital or colony by the sheriff or sergeant, then such certifi-
cate for transportation shall be furnished by the clerk of the circuit
or corporation court *. An attendant, sheriff or sergeant, or other
person appointed for the purpose shall receive for conveying any *
person committed to the hospital or colony only his actual ex-
penses. Unless authorized to do so by the State Hospital Board
or superintendent of a hospital or colony, no officer shall be allowed
anything for carrying any * person committed to or from any
hospital or colony, either for himself or the committed person.

§ 37-88. Route of transportation to hospital or colony.—The
transportation of mentally-ill, epileptic, mentally-deficient or in-
ebriate persons shall be over the route approved by the State Cor-
poration Commission, but it shall be lawful for the superintendent
of any hospital or colony to designate a different route from that
designated by the State Corporation Commission for the delivery
of any person to a hospital or colony when in his opinion this is
necessary for the safety or comfort of such person, or to prevent
loss of time in travel, or to save expense to such hospital or colony
in any case in which an attendant or officer may have to convey
more than one person on the same trip.
§ 37-89. Cost of transporting * to hospital or colony.—The
cost of conveying persons committed to any hospital or colony, ex-
cept those committed to the department for the criminal mentally-
ill, from the * station * designated by the superintendent of such
hospital or colony shall be paid from funds appropriated for the
support of the hospital or colony.

§ 37-90. Examination on admission to hospital or colony.—
When a person * is admitted to a hospital or colony, 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 superintendent is of the opinion that the person
is not mentally-ill, epileptic, mentally-deficient or inebriate, then
such person unless he be charged with or convicted of crime, shall
be returned by such hospital authorities to the county or city from
whence such person was committed, with a certificate of discharge,
and a copy of such certificate shall be forwarded by the superin-
tendent to the clerk of the * court in which the commitment papers
were filed pursuant to § 37-69, to be filed with the commitment
papers of such person. But if the superintendent and his as-
sistants have taken ample time to observe and examine such per-
son, and if upon such examination the superintendent be of the
opinion that he is mentally-tll, epileptic, mentally-deficient or in-
ebriate, then it shall be the duty of such superintendent to forth-
with report in writing to the physicians who examined such per-
son as members of the * commission his findings giving a full
report of the case, as well as any suggestions he may think best
to enable the physicians successfully to treat any other similar
cases coming under their observation or to treat the patient if he
should later be discharged from such hospital.

§ 37-91. Disposition of nonresidents.—If it appears to the
commission that the person examined by it is mentally-tll, epileptic,
mentally-deficient or inebriate person and a nonresident of this
State, the same proceedings shall be had with regard to him as if
he were a resident of the State * and if the nonresident be received
into a hospital or colony under these proceedings, a statement of
the fact of his nonresidence and of the place of his domicile, or
from which he came, as far as known, shall accompany any order
respecting him. The * Commissioner 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 ascer-
tained and such return is by the * Commissioner or court deemed
expedient or practicable. In all cases such person shall be other-
wise treated and cared for as if he were a resident of this State
and subject to all the * provisions of this title. The expense in-
cident to the transporting of any such nonresident person to the
Pace of his domicile or whence he came, shall be borne by the *

tate.
§ 37-91.1. Commitment of aliens —Whenever any person shall
be committed to a State hospital, or any other State institution
which is supported wholly or in part by public funds, it shall be
the duty of the * Commissioner to at once inquire into the na-
tionality of such person, and if it shall appear that such person
is an alien, to immediately notify the United States immigration
officer in charge of the district in which such institution is located,
of the date of and the reasons for such alien’s commitment, the
length of time for which committed, the country of which he is a
citizen, his age, and the date and vessel on which and the port at
which he last entered the United States. ,

Upon the official request of the United States immigration
officer, in charge of the territory or district in which is located any
court committing any alien to such institution, it shall be the duty
of the clerk of such court to furnish, without charge, a certified
copy, in duplicate, of any record pertaining to the case of the com-
mitted alien. Swch information shall be deemed confidential.

§ 37-91.2. Reciprocal agreements with other states for transfer
of patients.—The State Hospital Board is authorized with the con-
sent of the Governor to enter into reciprocal agreements with other
states, for the transfer from this State to such other state of any
person in any institution subject to the Board, when any such per-
son has not resided within this State for at least one year. Such
agreements may also provide for the acceptance by the Board of
citizens of this State who are * patients of any like institution of
the state with which the agreement is made.

§ 37-92. How expenses paid generally—Except as otherwise
provided, the expenses of removing, supporting, and maintaining
any * person, incurred under this title, shall be paid out of the
appropriation for the hospital to which the person is committed,
upon the order of the State Hospital Board.

§ 37-93. Mentally-tll persons charged with or convicted of
crime and restored to sanity.When any person, confined in the
department for the criminal mentally-ili at the proper hospital and
charged with crime subject to be tried therefor, or convicted of
crime, shall be restored to sanity, the superintendent shall give
notice thereof to the judge by whose order he was confined, and
deliver him in obedience to the proper precept; provided, that no
person who has been convicted of a crime punishable by death
shall be so delivered until the superintendent and the superin-
tendent of one of the other State hospitals for the mentally-ill or
colonies for mentally-deficient, to be designated by the State Hos-
pital Board, concur in the opinion that the person has been’ re-
stored to sanity. When any person charged with or indicted for
any offense which may be punishable by death has been adjudged
mentally-ill both at the time of the offense and the time when, but
for such * adjudication he would have been tried, and has been
ordered by the court to be committed to the department for the
criminal mentally-ill at the proper hospital, such person shall not
be discharged therefrom until the superintendent of that hospital
and the superintendents of two of the other hospitals or colonies,
designated by the State Hospital Board, shall be satisfied, after
thorough examination, that such person has been restored to sanity
and may be discharged without danger to others, and provided that
such discharge is given upon the consent and advice of the State
Hospital Board; provided that no person shall, in any case * be
denied the right of a trial by jury as to his sanity or mentality, if
he so elects.

This section shall be so construed as to apply to a mentally-
deficient as well as to a mentally-tll person, and in its application
to a mentally-deficient person, the term “adjudged mentally-tll”
shall mean adjudged “mentally-deficient” * and the term “restored
to sanity” shall mean such improvement of mental condition that
such mentally-defictent person could be discharged without danger
to himself or others.

§ 37-94. Discharge of mentally-ill persons when not charged
with or convicted of crime.—When any person not charged with or
convicted of crime, confined in a hospital or a jail * under the pro-
visions of this title shall be restored to sanity, the superintendent
or the court shall discharge him and give him a certificate thereof.
The superintendent of any hospital or colony may discharge as
improved or unimproved any patient therein if it appears to him
that he will be sufficiently provided for by himself, his committee,
relatives or friends and that his discharge will not be detrimental
to the public, and that his detention therein is no longer necessary
for his own welfare. The superintendent shall give the patient a
certificate setting forth his mental condition and the cause of his
discharge.

§ 37-95. Habitations of patients generally—In any hospital
or colony each patient shall be deemed an inhabitant of the county
‘or city in which he * was a * legal resident at the time of his re-
moval to the hospital or colony, and not of the county, city or
town in which the hospital or colony is located.

§ 37-96. Children born in hospitals or colonies.—Any child
born in any colony or hospital] * shall be deemed a resident of the
county or city in which the mother had legal residence at the time
of commitment and may be committed to the State Board of Wel-
fare and Institutions by the superintendent * or to the district
homes of the county or city of the child’s residence, if after due
notice by the superintendent any parent of such child, or next of
kin, shall fail or refuse to remove or provide for such child. The
cost of the removal of any such child and delivery to the Board
or to such person or institution as may be designated by the Board
of the district home of the county or city of the child’s residence
shall be at the expense of the county or city of the residence of
such child.

§ 37-98. Receiving, and maintaining federal prisoners in State
hospitals.—The State Hospital Board shall be authorized to enter
into a contract with the United States, through the Director of
the United States Bureau of Prisons or other authorized agent of
the United States, for the reception, maintenance, care and obser-
vation in the State hospitals for the mentally-ill, epileptic, mental-
ly-deficient and inebriate, or in such of them as may be designated
by the Board for the purpose, of any persons charged with crime
in the courts of the United States sitting in Virginia and com-
mitted by such courts to such hospitals for such purposes. All per-
sons so committed shall remain subject to the jurisdiction of the
court by whom they were committed, and may be returned to such
court at any time for hearing or trial.

Any such contract shall require that the United States remit
to the State Treasurer for each prisoner so committed specified per
diem or other payments, or both, such payments to be fixed by
such contract.

It shall be the duty of the superintendent of any hospital to
which a prisoner of the United States is so committed to observe
the patient and, as soon as may be, report in writing to the court
by which he is committed as to his mental condition or such other
matters as the court may request be inquired into.

No contract made pursuant to this section shall obligate the
Commonwealth or the State Hospital Board to receive a federal
prisoner into any hospital in which all available accommodations
are needed for patients, otherwise committed, or in any other case
where, in the opinion of the superintendent, the admission of such
prisoner would interfere with the care and treatment of other
patients or the proper administration of the hospital.

§ 37-99. How committed.—The judge of any circuit or corpo-
ration court, or any trial justice * 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 observation as to his
mental condition, any suitable person who is a legal resident of
the State and not an inebriate or drug addict.

§ 37-102. Commitment upon certificate made after observa-
tion.—Any person in a State Hospital or colony admitted under
this article for observation may be committed as mentally-ill,
epileptic or mentally-deficient by the judge, or trial justice *
originally acting in the case, upon the duly sworn certificate of the
superintendent of a State hospital and one or more physicians of
the hospital staff who have made a careful psychiatric study to
determine his mental condition, that the patient is mentally-ill,
epileptic or mentally-deficient. The same provisions as to filing
and recording are to be observed as in regular commitments. For
services rendered under the provisions of this section no fees shall
be payable to any one.

§ 37-103. Admission and detainment on petition and certifi-
cate.—The superintendent of any State hospital or colony for the
care and treatment of the mentally-ill 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 men-
tally-tll, a person whose case is certified by two licensed * physi-
cians, neither of whom is in any manner related to or connected by
marriage with him or has any interest in his estate, after careful
personal 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.

§ 37-105. Contents of certificate of physicians.—The certifi-
cate * executed by such physicians shall contain adequate reasons
why the alleged mentally-ill person should be received in a State
hospital or colony *. The examining physicians shall furthermore
answer, as far as practicable, from their personal knowledge and
from information furnished by competent persons, the interroga-
tories prescribed by law in the regular form of examination and
commitment of mentally-ill persons.

§ 37-106. Detention limited to * forty-five days.—By virtue of
the certificate * and urgent need of custody and treatment and of
the petition, the alleged mentally-ill person may be received and
detained in the State hospital or other institution for the care and
treatment of the mentally-tll, for a period not to exceed * forty-five

ays. —

_ § 37-107. When superintendent may refuse admission.—The
superintendent of any such institution may refuse to receive the
alleged mentally-ill patient upon such certificate and petition, if,
in his judgment, the reasons stated in the certificate are not suf-
ficient, or if the mental condition of the patient is not of such na-
ture as to make it necessary that he should receive hospital treat-
ment and care.

§ 37-108. Conveyance to hospital of persons admitted.—If the
condition of the alleged mentally-ill person seems to the superin-
tendent 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 mentally-ill person may be forth-
with conveyed to the hospital or institution by the person apply-
ing for his admission or some other suitable person, who shall de-
liver to the superintendent the certificate, the petition and all
other written information relating to the case
§ 37-109. Duty of superintendent when person admitted is
found to be mentally-ill, epileptic or mentally-defictent within *
forty-five days of admission.—If any person admitted under §§
37-103 to 37-106 is found to be mentally-ill, epileptic or mentally-
deficient within * forty-five days after he is admitted to the hospi-
tal 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.

§ 37-110. Duty of judge or justice in such case.—The judge or
justice if satisfied that the proceedings and notification are in
order shall execute the order and return one copy to the superin-
tendent of the hospital and file the other with the clerk of the
court * as provided for in § 37-69.

§ 37-110.1. Record of proceedings.—No record of the proceed-
ings under this title shall be kept ercept the papers required to be
filed with the clerk of the court pursuant to the provisions of
§ 37-69 unless the person found to be mentally-ill, epileptic, men-
tally-deficient or inebriate appeals from the decision. Upon the
appeal the records of the proceedings shall be kept in a separate
book to be known as “Record Book of Mentally-Ill, Epileptic,
Inebriate and Mentally-Deficient Persone’.

§ 37-111. Procedure when such person found not mentally-ill,
epileptic or mentally-deficient within * forty-five days of admission.
—If any person admitted under §§ 37-103 to 37-106 is not found to
be mentally-ill, epileptic or mentally-deficient within * forty-five
days after he is admitted to the hospital or colony, he shall be dis-
charged. In no case shall any such person he held in the hospital
or colony for more than forty-five days, unless in the meantime he
shall make application for further care and treatment as a volun-
tary patient under the provisions of § 37-113 or is committed as a
mentally-ill, epileptic or mentally-deficient person under §§ 37-61
to 37-98.

§ 37-113. Admission on application of persons * as mentally-
ill—The superintendent of any State hospital or colony for the
care and treatment of the mentally-ill, may, subject to the rules
and regulations established by the State Hospital Board, receive
and detain therein, as a patient, any suitable person who is a
legal resident of the State, and is in the early stages of being men-
tally-ill and desirous of submitting himself to treatment, and who
voluntarily makes written application therefor, and whose mental
condition is such as to render him competent to make the applica-
tion, or understand it if made by another for him, provided his
admission does not deprive any person who has been committed
of care and treatment in the hospital, or other institution for the
mentally-ul.

§ 37-119. Admission of nonresident.—No nonresident mentally-
ill, epileptic, mentally-deficient or inebriate person shall be admitted
or detained in any hospital under any contract with the Board ex-
cept when there is a vacancy therein not applied for on behalf of
any person residing in the State.

§ 37-121. Forms.—The State Hospital Board shall prescribe
and prepare forms of application for voluntary admission of men-
tally-tll persons to the State hospitals. |

§ 37-122. Habeas corpus as means.—Any person held in cus-
tody as mentally-ill, epileptic, mentally-deficient or inebriate, may
by means of a writ of habeas corpus have the question of the legal-
ity of his detention and of his condition determined by a court of
competent jurisdiction.

§ 37-123. Procedure when person confined in hospital or
colony.—If the person mentioned in the preceding section is held
in custody and actually confined in any hospital or colony, or other
institution, he may file his petition in the circuit court of the
county or the circuit or corporation court of the city in which
such hospital-or colony, or other institution is located or in the
circuit court of the county or the circuit or the corporation court
of the city of the county or city adjoining the county and city in
which such hospital or colony or institution is located, or before
the judge thereof in vacation. Upon the petition, after notice to
the authorities of the hospital or colony, or institution in which
he is confined, the court or judge thereof in vacation shall in some
court-room of such county or city, or in some other convenient pub-
lic place in such county or city determine whether such person be
sane or mentally-tll, epileptic, mentally-deficient or inebriate.

§ 37-124. Procedure when person not confined in hospital or
colony.—In all cases, other than those provided for in the preced-
ing section, the person may file his petition in the circuit court of
the county or the corporation court of the city in which he resides,
or in which he was adjudged mentally-ill, epileptic, mentally-de-
ficient or inebriate, or before the judge thereof in vacation and
upon such petition, after notice to the authorities of the hospital
or colony or to the person claiming the right to the custody of
such adjudged mentally-tll, epileptic, mentally-deficient or inebriate
person, such court or judge thereof in vacation shall determine
whether such person be sane or mentally-ill, epileptic, mentally-
deficient or inebriate.

§ 37-125. Duty and fee of attorney for Commonwealth.—In
any case to test the legality of the detention of a person adjudged
mentally-ill, epileptic, mentally-deficient or inebriate, whether by
habeas corpus or otherwise, the attorney for the Commonwealth
of the county or city in which the hearing is had shall on request
oi the superintendent of the hospital or colony having or claim-
ing custody of such person represent the Commonwealth in opposi-
tion to any such petition, appeal or procedure for the discharge of
such persons from custody *

§ 37-125.1. Who liable for expenses; monthly limit. —Any per-
son who has been or who may be committed or admitted to any
hospital for the mentally-ill or colony for the epileptics or the
mentally-deficient and any person admitted or committed for drug
addiction or the intemperate use of alcohol, or the estate of any
such person, or the person legally liable for the support of any
such person, shall be liable for the expenses of his care, treatment
and maintenance in such institution. Such expenses shall not ex-
ceed the actual per capita cost of maintenance, or the sum of forty
dollars per month, whichever amount is the lesser, and shall be
fixed by the Department of Mental Hygiene and Hospitals.

§ 37-125.2. Collections payable into State treasury.—Al]]l funds
collected by the Department pursuant to this article shall be paid
into the general fund of the State treasury. *

§ 37-125.3. Nonresidents.—Nothing in this title shall be con-
strued to forbid any hospital or colony to charge for the removal,
care and maintenance of any nonresident mentally-ill, epileptic,
inebriate or mentally-deficient who has been committed to such
hospital or colony by law, and whose committee or next friend
has contracted with such hospital or colony for the care and main-
tenance of such person, nor shall it be construed to permit the ad-
mission or retention of any nonresident in any hospital or colony
to the exclusion of a resident of the Commonwealth.

§ 37-125.4. Department to investigate financial ability to pay
expenses.— * The Department shall make investigation and ascer-
tain which of the various patients or inmates of such institutions,
or which of the parents, guardians, trustees, committees, or other
persons legally responsible therefor, are financially able to pay
the expenses of the care, treatment and maintenance, and such
patient, inmate, parent, guardian, trustee, committee, or other per-
son legally responsible therefor, shall be notified of such expenses
and in general of the provisions of this article.

§ 37-125.5. Contracts by Department.—The Department may
contract with any patient’s parent, guardian, trustee, committee,
or the person legally liable for his support and maintenance, and
in arriving at the amount to be paid, the Department shall have
due regard for the financial condition and estate of the patient or
inmate, his present and future needs and the present and future
needs of his lawful dependents, and, whenever deemed necessary
to protect him, or his dependents, may agree to accept a monthly
sum for his maintenance less than the sum of forty dollars per
month, or the actual per capita cost of his maintenance. Al] con-
tracts made by and between the Department and any person under
legal disabilities or any person acting in a fiduciary capacity for
any such patient * providing for the payment of the expenses of
such patient * in any such institution, shall be subject to the ap-
proval of any court of record having jurisdiction over the incom-
petent’s estate or for the county or city of which he is a legal resi-
dent, or from which he was legally committed.

§ 37-125.6. Application for order to compel payment of ex-
penses.—Upon the failure of any patient * of such institution, or
of his parent, guardian, committee, trustee or other person legally
responsible for his expenses, to make payment of the same, or enter
into an agreement for such payment, and whenever it appears from
investigation that such patient or inmate, his parent, guardian,
committee, trustee, or other person legally liable for the support
of such person, has sufficient estate, or there is evidence of ability
to pay such expenses, the Department shall apply to any such court
mentioned in § 37-125.5, or to any court having jurisdiction for the
county or city in which the person legally liable for the support
of such patient resides, for an order to compel payment of such
expenses by persons liable therefor and in the following order:
First, by the patient or his estate; and second, by the person legally
liable for the support of such patient. The Department shall collect
such part or all of such expenses from the several sources as ap-
pears proper under the circumstances and may proceed against all
of such sources.

§ 37-126. Commitment to private sanitarium.—If a Commis-
sion finds that a person is mentally-ill, mentally-deficient, epileptic
or inebriate * and ought to be confined, the judge or justice may,
upon request of the person’s friends, commit the patient to a private
sanitarium, there to be confined until * discharged in accordance
with regulations of the State Hospital Board 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.

§ 37-126.1. Transfer of patients.—The Commissioner is author-
ized to transfer patients from State hospitals or colonies to private
hospitals, institutions or sanitaria or vice versa when in the Com-
missioner’s opinion the patient will be benefited thereby.

§ 37-127. Removal of persons in jail to hospitals, institutions
or private homes.—The State Hospital Board is hereby authorized
and empowered, subject to § 37-78, to cause persons adjudged
mentally-ill, epileptic or mentally-deficient and. confined in the dif-
ferent 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. The Board shall remove, as soon as practic-
able all such persons from the jails and place them in hospitals,
institutions or private families, approved by the Board, as pro-
vided in this chapter. The Board is authorized to make all neces-
sary 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.

§ 37-128. Board with private families —The superintendent
of each State hospital and colony may place at board at the ex-
pense of the Commonwealth in a suitable family in this State ap-
proved 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 dangerous, nor committed as an *
inebriate, nor addicted to the intemperate use of narcotics or
stimulants. The cost to the Commonwealth of the board and
lodging of such patients supported at the public expense shall not
exceed * twenty dollars a week for each patient.

§ 37-132. Commitment to responsible person on bond prior to
removal.—lIf, 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 a mentally-ill, mentally-deficient, epileptic or inebriate per-
son without cost to the Commonwealth, until conveyed to a hos-
pital, Veterans’ Administration Facility, or colony or otherwise
discharged from custody, then the judge or justice may, in his dis-
cretion, commit such mentally-tll, mentally-deficient, epileptic or
inebriate person to the custody of such person. If the person giving
the bond mentioned in this section, or his representative, shall de-
liver the mentally-tll, mentally deficient, inebriate, or epileptic per-
son therein mentioned to the sheriff of the county or sergeant of
the city, according to the condition of the bond, such sheriff or
sergeant shall carry such person before a judge or justice of his
county or corporation, and the same proceeding shall be thereupon
had as in the case of a person brought before a judge or justice
under his warrant under § 37-61.

§ 87-182.1. When commitment null and void.—Any commit-
ment of a person under the provisions of this title to a hospital,
colony, Veterans’ Administration Facility or any private hospital
or sanitarium or to any person giving bond under the preceding
section shall be null and void if such committed person is not
actually admitted to the hospital, colony or Veteran’s Administra
tion Facility within thirty days of the decree.

§ 37-133. Delivery to friend under bond after confinement.—
Except in the case of a person charged with crime and subject to
be tried therefor, or convicted of crime and subject to be punished
therefor, the superintendent of any hospital or colony, may deliver
any mentally-tll or epileptic person, confined in such hospital or
colony to any friend who will give bond, with surety, to be ap-
proved by the court or superintendent of any hospital or colony,
with the condition to restrain, maintain and take proper care of
such person without expense to the Commonwealth of Virginia,
or any subdivision thereof. Where a mentally-tll person, except as
aforesaid, is deemed by the superintendent of a hospital both
harmless and incurable, the superintendent may deliver him with-
out such bond to any friend who is willing, and in the opinion of
the superintendent able and a suitable person, to take care of him
without cost to the Commonwealth; but no epileptic found to be
mentally-tll after commitment to the colony shall be released on
bond, unless, in the opinion of the superintendent, he be harmless.
If the person giving any bond mentioned in this section, or his
representative, shall deliver the mentally-tll or epileptic person
therein mentioned to the sheriff of the county or sergeant of the
city, according to the condition of the bond, such sheriff or
sergeant shall carry such person before a judge or justice of his
county or corporation, and the same proceeding shall be thereupon
had as in the case of a person brought before a judge or justice
under his warrant under § 37-61.

§ 37-134. Surrender of mentally-ill person to hospital.—If any
person to whom a mentally-tll or epileptic person has been delivered
by the superintendent of any hospital shall desire to surrender
such person to such hospital and be released of the bond if one is
taken, he may do so upon delivering such person to the hospital
or its authorized agent.

§ 37-135. * Trial visits—The superintendent of any hospital
or colony may furlough any patient therein and place him under
the care of his committee, relative, friend or other responsible or
proper person, or without such care, for a period to be determined
by the superintendent, and may receive him into the hospital or
colony when returned by any such committee, relative, friend or
other person having charge of him, or upon his own application
within the period for which he was furloughed without any further
order of commitment. The superintendent of such hospital or
colony may require as a condition of such furlough that the person
in whose charge the patient is placed, shall make reports to him at
stated periods of the patient’s condition, that he exercise proper
care over such patient and deliver him safely to the hospital or
colony when required to do so by the superintendent without ex-
pense to the hospital or colony. Should any patient furloughed
under this section fail to return to the hospital or colony when
required by the superintendent to do so, he may be deemed by the
superintendent an escapee and all the laws applicable to escaped
patients in any hospital or colony shall apply thereto, except all
costs and expenses incident to the arrest of such person and his
return to the hospital or colony shall be collected of the patient,
his committee, friend or other person in whose charge he was fur-
loughed. * No person committed to the departments for the
criminal mentally-ill shall be furloughed.

§ 37-135.1. Discharge of persons on trial visit—Any patient
who has remained on trial visit for one year with the consent of the
superintendent of the hospital or colony which placed him on trial
visit shall be discharged.

§ 37-136. When person adjudged mentally-illIf a person be
found mentally-ill * as herein provided, or in a court in which he
is charged with crime, the circuit court of the county or the
corporation or circuit court of the city of which he is an inhabi-
tant, or such other courts in such city ag have jurisdiction to ap-
point committees for mentally-ill persons shall appoint a commit-
tee for him. The Chancery Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction
of such matters in the City of Richmond, but nothing herein con-
tained shall apply to or affect the present jurisdiction of the Hust-
ings Court, Part Two, of the City of Richmond. Such appoint-
ments may be made by the court or the judge thereof in vacation.

§ 37-187. When no committee appointed within one month of
adjudication.—If no person shall be appointed a committee within
one month from the adjudication the court, or the judge thereof
in vacation, on motion of any interested person, may appoint a
committee, or he shall commit the estate of the mentally-tll, mental-
ly-deficient, epileptic or inebriate person to the sheriff of the county
or sergeant of the city, who shall be the committee, and he and
the sureties in his official bond shall be bound for the faithful per-
formance of the trust.

§ 37-138. When person suspected of being mentally-tll—If a
person residing in this State, not so found, be suspected of being
mentally-ill the circuit court of the county or corporation or cir-
cuit court of the city, or the judge thereof in vacation, of which
such person is an inhabitant, or such other courts, or the judges
thereof in vacation, in such city as have jurisdiction to appoint
committees for mentally-ill persons, except that the Chancery Court
shall have exclusive jurisdiction of such matters in the City of
Richmond, shall, on the application of any party interested, pro-
ceed to examine into the state of mind of such person, and upon
being satisfied that such person shows sufficient evidence of being
mentally-ill, such court shall appoint one or two persons as com-
mittee for such person.

§ 37-139. For nonresidents.—If a person residing out of the
State, but having property therein, be suspected of being mentally-
ll, the circuit court of the county or corporation or circuit court
of the city, or such other courts in such city as have jurisdiction
to appoint committees for mentally-ill persons, except that. the
Chancery Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction of such matters
in the city of Richmond, wherein such property or greater part of
it is, shall, upon like application and being satisfied that he is
mentally-ill, appoint a committee for him. The appointment may
be made by ‘the court or the judge thereof in vacation.

No person against whom proceedings under this section are
authorized shall be proceeded against unless and until he shall
have. been given at least fifteen days notice by registered mail
posted to his last known address. Any -person proceeded against
under the provisions of this section shall have the right of appeal
at any time from the finding of mental illness provided that he had
no notice as herein provided of the application for appointment of
a committee hereunder.

§ 37-139.1. When person committed as epileptic is found
mentally-ill_— When a person adjudged to be an epileptic and com-
mitted to a hospital or colony is found by the superintendent
thereof after observation and examination to be mentally-ill, the
the circuit court of the county or corporation or circuit court of the
city of his residence, or the Chancery Court of the city of Richmond,
if he is a resident of the city of Richmond, after reasonable notice
to such person shall, on the sworn certificate of the superintendent
that such person is mentally-ill, and upon such other evidence as
such court may deem proper and require, appoint a committee for
him. Such appointments may be made by the court or the judge
thereof in vacation.

§ 37-140. Person because of age or impaired health incapable
of taking care of person or property.—On petition of any person in
interest to the circuit court of the county, or to any court having
jurisdiction for the appointment of guardians or committees of
infants or mentally-ill persons of the city, in which any person who
by reason of advanced age or impaired health, or physical disability,
has become mentally or physically incapable of taking proper care
of his person or properly handling and managing his estate, resides,
the court or the judge in vacation, after reasonable notice to such
person and after hearing on the petition if convinced that he is
incapacitated to the extent above-mentioned, may appoint some
suitable person to be the guardian or committee of his person or
property, and the guardian or committee shall have the same rights
and duties which pertain to committees and trustees appointed
under §§ 37-136, 37-138 or 37-141, and shall give such bond as is
required by the court or judge. On the hearing of every such
petition a guardian ad litem shall be appointed to represent the
interest of the person for whom a committee or guardian is re-
quested and he shall be paid such fee as is fixed by the court or
judge to be taxed as part of the costs of the proceeding.

The Chancery Court of the City of Richmond or the judge
thereof in vacation shall have exclusive jurisdiction to appoint a
guardian or committee under this section for any person who
resides in any part of the territory of the City of Richmond which
lies on the north side of the James Itiver.

§ 37-141. Trustees for incompetent ex-service persons and
their beneficiaries —Whenever any former soldier, sailor or marine,
or other ex-service person of the United States, or beneficiary of
any ex-service person is found to be incompetent by the medical
authorities of the Veterans’ Administration, on motion of the
Veterans’ Administration or any person in interest, accompanied
by a certificate of the Administrator of Veterans’ Affairs or his duly
authorized representative, certifying that such person has been
rated incompetent by the Veterans’ Administration, and that the
appointment of a trustee is a condition precedent to the payment
of any moneys due such ex-service person or any beneficiary of such
ex-service person, after reasonable notice to such person, the circuit
court of the county or the corporation or hustings court of the city
of which such ex-service person or beneficiary of such ex-service
person is a legal resident, or such other courts in such city as have
jurisdiction to appoint committees for mentally-ill persons, or the
judges thereof in vacation, except that the Chancery Court of the
City of Richmond or the judge thereof in vacation shall have
exclusive jurisdiction of such matters under this section for any
person who resides in that part of the City of Richmond which lies
on the north side of the James River, in lieu of appointing a com-
mittee, or adjudging such ex-service person, or beneficiary of such
ex-service person, mentally-ill, shall appoint a trustee for such
ex-service person, or beneficiary of such ex-service person where it
appears to the court that a trustee is needed for the purpose of
receiving and administering such benefits of compensation or insur-
ance as might be paid by the United States government. Such
trustee, in addition to such duties and obligations imposed upon him
under his trust by the federal government, shall be subject to such
State laws as are now in force or hereafter enacted applicable to
the appointment and administration of committees for mentally-ill
persons. . :

Any person for whom a trustee has been appointed under the
provisions of this section may thereafter be adjudged competent
by the court or judge thereof in vacation which appointed the
trustee.

§37-143. Provisions applicable to epileptics, mentally-deficient
persons *.—The provisions of this chapter as to the appointment of
committees of mentally-ill persons shall apply to the appointment
of committees of epileptics, inebriate and mentally-deficient per-
sons *,

§ 37-145. Effect of refusal to give bond or accept trust.—If
any person appointed committee of a mentally-ill, mentally-deficient,
epileptic or inebriate person refuse the trust or fail to give bond
as required within one month from the date of his appointment,
the court, or the judge thereof in vacation, on motion of any per-
son interested, may appoint some other person committee, taking
from such committee the bond required, or shall commit the estate
of the * person to the sheriff of the county or sergeant of che city
of which he is an inhabitant, who shall be the committee, and he
and the sureties in his official bond shall be bound for the faithful
performance of the trust.

§ 37-153. Same; not limited by article relating to expenses.—
Nothing in §§ 37-125.1 to 37-125.16 shall be construed to relieve the
committee of any mentally-ill, epileptic or mentally-deficient person
* from paying to any hospital or colony a sum for extra comforts,
of persons confined in such hospital or colony; nor to make it un-
lawful for any such committee to make voluntary gifts which the
committee’ may deem conducive to the happiness and comfort of
such persons so confined.

§ 37-153.1. Department to be notified in certain cases.—l1:
any suit or action for the appointment of a committee, trustec
guardian or any fiduciary who is to have the management ane
control of funds belonging to any mentally-ill, mentally-deficient,
inebriate, epileptic, drug addict or opium eater who has been com-
mitted to any State hospital or colony, the Department shall re-
ceive notice of such suit or action and the clerk of any court in
which such suit or action is pending shall notify the Commissioner
of that fact.

§ 37-154. Commitment when user of liquor or drugs has be-
come dangerous to himself or public—Any person who through
use Of alcoholic liquors or habit-forming drugs, has become danger-
ous to the public or himself and unable to care for himself or his
property or family, and for either of these reasons has become a
burden on the public, shall, upon complaint of any person, be
brought before a commission in the same manner and under the
same process as is provided by law for commissions of the men-
tally-ill, and if such person shall be found by such commission to
be in the condition above-mentioned, such person shall be com-
mitted to a State hospital for the mentally-ill, as an inebriate, to
be kept and held there until the superintendent of that institution
shall declare such person cured and restored to his normal condi-
tion, when he shall be discharged, or paroled, as may seem proper
to the superintendent of the institution. Any person who has been
found to be an incbriate may have a committee appointed under
the provisions of § 37-140.

§ 37-158. Examination by justices.—The justice * issuing the
warrant * shall inquire whether such person be an habitual drunk-
ard, opium eater or addicted to other drug habits, and lost to self-
control, and for that purpose shall summon his physician, if he
has one, and if none, then some other physician practicing in the
vicinity, and other friends.
§ 37-176. Mentally-deficient person defined.—The words “men-
tally-deficient person” in this title shall be construed to mean any
person with mental defectiveness from birth or from an early age
so pronounced that he is incapable of caring for himself or manag-
ing his affairs, or of being taught to do so, and who is unsafe and
dangerous to himself and others, and to the community, and who
consequently requires care, supervision and control for the pro.
tection and welfare of himself, others and the community, but who
is not classifiable as a mentally-ill person as usually interpreted.

§ 37-177. * Mentally-deficient includes.— * A mentally-de-
ficient person also includes a person who from birth or by reason
of failure of early development has not attained the maximum men-
tal age of three years according to the Binet or other approved
mental tests, and who is incapable of making known his natural
wants, to feed himself, and is practically deficient in the mentality
of a normal child of three years of age.

§ 37-178. Epileptic defined——Whenever the word “epileptic”
is used in this title it shall be construed to mean “mentally-ill or
demented epileptic” or any person suffering from epilepsy in any
of its forms whether attended by fits or convulsions or by periodl-
cal loss of consciousness without fits or convulsions, who by reason
of epilepsy in any of its forms ig rendered mentally or physically
incapable of self-care or support and cannot go at large unat-
tended by some other person with safety to himself and others, and
who is or is likely soon to become a public charge.

§ 37-180. Laws relating to mentally-ill apply to mentally-defi-
cient, etc.—All the provisions of this title relating to the mentally-
ill, unless otherwise specially provided, shall apply to the men-
tally-deficient, epileptic and inebriate.

§ 37-181. Where certain mentally-deficient committed.—A suit-
able building or buildings shall be erected at the Lynchburg State
Colony, and at the Central State Hospital at Petersburg, Virginia,
for the exclusive care of the mentally-deficient as defined in §
37-177 and on completion and equipment of this department, the
superintendents of the colonies shall be authorized to receive male
and female patients properly committed.

§ 37-182. Where epileptics committed. __Whenever an epilep-
tic person is adjudged to be such, as defined in § 37-178, by any
commission held for that purpose if he be a white person he shall
be committed to the Lynchburg State Colony at Madison Heights,
Amherst County, and if he be a colored person he shall be com-
mitted to a department for epileptics in the Central State Hospital
at Petersburg. Nothing in this title shall be construed to forbid
the necessary and temporary detention of any epileptic or men-
tally-deficient white person in any of the hospitals nor of any men-
tallyall person in the colony until he can be transferred to the
proper hospital or colony.- Nothing in this title shall be construed
to authorize or permit a white person to be sent to or received at
the Central State Hospital or a colored person to be sent to or re-
ceived in any other hospital or colony than the Central State
Hospital.

§ 37-182.1. Forms for petition, warrant, interrogatories, etc.
—All blank forms for petition, warrant, interrogatories and com-
mitment in committing the mentally-deficient and epileptic shall be
prepared in accordance with provisions of this title for commit-
ment of the mentally-ill, epileptic, mentally-deficient and inebriate,
and shall be printed at the expense of the State colonies, and shall
be furnished to officers of the law on application to the superinten-
dent of the respective colonies free of charge. The same forms as
for mentally-deficient shall be used for the commitment of epilep-
tics to the colonies with such additional interrogatories relating
to epilepsy as may be deemed Necessary for statistical purposes.

§ 37-183. Patients deemed lawfully committed to Lynchburg
State Colony, Petersburg Colony, or department for colored epilep-
tics.—All patients adjudged to be mentally-deficient or epileptic by
regular commissions to determine the mental condition of such
patients and committed as such to any of these institutions.
whether by a commission and * trial justice *, or by court order,
who have been found by the superintendent of the institution to be
mentally-deficient or epileptic and who appear on the records of
the institutions to have been so admitted, are hereby declared to
be lawfully committed patients of the Lynchburg State Colony, the
Petersburg State Colony, or of the department for colored epilep-
tics, as the case may be.

§ 37-184. Separate departments to be maintained in colonies
for epileptics and mentally-deficient ; to enjoy same benefits.—There
shall be maintained in the colonies separate departments for the
epileptics and mentally-deficient so far as practicable. Separate
records and statistical notes of their medical departments shall
be kept, and report thereof shall be made by the superintendent
for each fiscal year in the biennial reports. Provided, that all
provisions of law applying to the care, and treatment of the men-
tally-deficient in any colony in which both epileptic and mentally-
deficient are cared for and treated, shall, where not otherwise ex-
pressly provided, apply to both classes alike so far as may be prac-
ticable, and all patients admitted to the institution whether men-
tally-deficient or epileptic shall enjoy the same benefits and shall
while in such institution be subject to the regulations and laws
that apply specifically to the one class or the other, so far as may
be practicable.

§ 37-185. Provisions apply to colored and white persons alike.
—All the provisions of this * title relating to the commitment, care,
training and treatment of mentally-deficient white persons shall be
applicable to the commitment, care, training and treatment of
mentally-deficient colored persons when legally committed to the
Petersburg State Colony.

§ 37-186. Who received in Lynchburg State Colony.—The
superintendent of the Lynchburg State Colony shall receive and
care for such epileptic, and such mentally-deficient white persons,
male and female, when facilities are available, to whom such train-
ing would be of most benefit, who are legal residents of Virginia,
as under the laws of the State are committed to such colony, pro-
vided that in committing persons to the colony and in receiving
them therein those indigent white persons who would be most likely
to receive benefit from colony care and training shall be first re-
ceived and admitted.

§ 37-187. Employment, training and medical treatment in
Lynchburg State Colony.—In order to promote the objects for
which the Lynchburg State Colony was established, for the pro-
tection of society and mentally-deficient and epileptic persons them-
selves, and that those who are capable of being trained for self-
support may eventually leave the institution and enjoy the life and
liberty of the outer world, the superintendent thereof and the State
Hospital Board shall, as far as practicable, provide suitable em-
ployment for such patients and such training, both educational
and industrial, as is adapted to their capacities, and shall see that
such moral, medical and surgical treatment as they deem proper
shall be given such patients in order to promote the objects for
which the institution is provided.

§ 37-189. Care of mentally-deficient with epileptics at Lynch-
burg State Colony.—Until separate buildings for mentally-deficient
males are provided, the superintendent of the Lynchburg State
Colony may receive and care for, with white epileptic males, such
white mentally-deficient male patients as, for urgent and distressing
reasons, require custodial care and treatment. —

§ 37-190. Care of certain mentally-deficient at all colonies.—
It shall be unlawful for any colony to receive and care for, with
other mentally-deficient patients, any mentally-deficient as defined
by § 37-177. However, at those colonies where provision, by way
of a building or buildings, has been made for the reception and
care of the mentally-deficient as defined in § 37-177, they, when
duly committed according to the provisions of law as to the com-
mitment of the mentally-deficient, and regardless of their age, shall
be received, segregated and cared for therein, apart from the other
mentally-deficient population of any such colony, or colonies.
Among the mentally-deficient as defined in § 87-177 population of
any such colony or colonies, the sexes shall be kept separate and
apart. It is further provided that it shall be lawful to transfer
from the department of epileptics and mentally-deficient in any
colony or colonies patients, whether epileptic or mentally-deficient,
who, from mental deterioration, have reached the practical state of
a mental-deficient as defined in § 37-177 to be cared for In such
building, or buildings.

§ 37-192. Buildings, teachers and who admitted to Petersburg
State Colony.—The State Hospital Board shall provide suitable
buildings with proper appurtenances and equipment for the care,
custody, control, teaching, training and employment of such
mentally-deficient colored persons as may be committed under the
law of the State to the Petersburg State Colony. The superin-
tendent of the colony shall, as rapidly as proper accommodations for
them can be provided, receive and care for such mentally-deficient
colored persons who are * legal residents of Virginia as under the
laws of the State may be admitted to the colony, provided that in
committing persons to the colony and in receiving them therein,
those indigent colored children who would be most likely to receive
benefit from colony care and training, shall, as far as practicable,
be first received and admitted. :

§ 37-194. Petition to have person declared mentally-deficient.—
No mentally-deficient person shall be sent to any institution, except
as provided in this title. When any person residing in this State
shall be supposed to be mentally-deficient, any reputable citizen of
the State may file a petition in the circuit court of the county, or
corporation court of the city, or with the judge thereof in vaca-
ion, or before any trial justice * in the city or county in which
such alleged mentally-deficient person is found, setting forth under
oath the circumstances indicating the * person named is mentally-
deficient, the facts of his social and financial condition and sur-
roundings, and the names and financial condition of the person, if
any, having the custody or control, and on whom he is dependent,
together with the names of his parents, or guardian, if he is a
minor, or of the next of kin, if any person occupying any of these
relations to the persons suspected of being mentally-deficient be
known to the petitioner to be living in the county or city in which
the petition is filed.

§ 37-195. Warrant, summonses, and order fixing time and
place of examination.—Upon filing the petition it shall be the duty
of the judge or the justice with whom such petition is filed to issue
a warrant ordering such alleged mentally-deficient person to be
brought before him and to summon the custodian, if any, of the
alleged mentally-deficient person, together with the parent, guar-
dian, or next of kin named in the petition if they are found in his
county or city, and such other persons as are deemed competent to
testify to the condition and circumstances of the alleged mentally-
deficient person, including one physician and a certified clinical
psychologist, if practicable, and if not practicable, two physicians,
and to enter or issue an order fixing the time and place for the
2axamination of such * person.
§ 37-196. Composition of commission.—The judge or the justice
and the certified clinical psychologist and the physician, or the
two physicians, one of whom shall, when practicable, be the family
physician, and neither in any manner shall be related to or have
an interest in the estate of the alleged mentally-deficient person’s
estate, shall constitute a commission to determine whether or not
such person is mentally-deficient as alleged and whether such per-
son is under such proper supervision, care or control as to insure
the welfare of himself, others or the community.

§ 37-200. Discharge when commission satisfied person not
mentally-deficient.—If the commission is satisfied that such person
is not mentally-deficient he shall be discharged and the petition
dismissed.

§ 37-201. Appointment of committee of person and property.—
If the commission is satisfied that such person is mentally-deficient,
such commission may- petition the circuit court of the county or
the corporation court of the city in which such commission is held,
or the judge thereof in vacation, and the court or judge may ap-
point some suitable person to be the guardian or committee of the
person of such mentally-deficient person, and the court or judge
may also appoint the same or a different person guardian or com-
mittee of the property of the mentally-deficient person, and such
guardian or guardians shall have the right and duty which pertain
to guardians of the persons and property of the mentally-ill as pro-
vided for in this title, and shall give such bond as may be required
by the judge. |

§ 37-202. Commitment to private institution or State Colony.—
The judge or justice acting on the commission may commit such
mentally-deficient person to a private institution approved by the
State Hospital Board, or to a State colony for the mentally-
deficient.

§ 37-203. Commitment to officer or responsible person pending
admission to colony.—And the judge or justice may commit such
mentally-deficient person to the custody of the sheriff of the county
or sergeant of the city in which such commission is held, or to
some other responsible person pending admission into the colony
for the mentally-deficient.

§ 37-204. Appeal from commitment.—Any person * found to
be mentally-defictent by a commission shall within * fifteen days
thereafter have the right of appeal to the circuit court of the
county or the corporation court of the city in which the commis-
sion was held, or the judge thereof in vacation. * Any person *
found mentally-deficient by a circuit or corporation court shall
have the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeals.

§ 37-205. Costs of proceedings on petition.—The cost of the pro-
ceedings upon a petition for determining if a person is mentally-
deficient shall be defrayed in the same manner as is provided by
law in proceedings to determine if a person is mentally-tll.

§ 37-206. Records of proceedings.—The records of every pro-
ceeding before a commission to determine * if any person is mental-
ly-deficient as provided for in this chapter inclusive of petition,
warrant, interrogatories and order of commitment to a State colony
for the mentally-deficient shall be made in duplicate in writing,
and signed by the judge or justice and other members of the com-
mission and witnesses. The judge or justice shall forthwith on the
same day deliver or transmit to the sheriff of the county, or
sergeant of the city, one full copy of such record, and such sheriff
or sergeant shall forthwith on the same day received transmit to
the superintendent of the colony to which the person is committed,
this copy of the record, and make application for his admission as
ig provided for in this title in the case of the mentally-ill, epileptic
and inebriate. * * *

§ 37-207. Copies of order of commitment sent to superin-
tendent and. Commissioner.—Immediately * after sending a copy
of the record and order of commitment directing that a mentally-
deficient person be sent to an institution or colony for the mental-
ly-deficient the clerk of the * court which found such person mental-
ly-deficient shall send a copy of the order of commitment to the
superintendent of the colony to which such person has been com-
mitted for endorsement by the superintendent of the fact that such
mentally-defictent person has been received as provided for in
§ 37-208. Such clerk shall also send to the Commissioner of Mental
Hygiene and Hospitals such notice of commitment of the person
to the colony for the mentally-deficient as is prescribed in § 37-77
for notifying the Commissioner of Mental Hygiene and Hospitals
of the commitment of any mentally-ill, epileptic, mentally-deficient
or inebriate person.

§ 37-208. Receipt of committed person; disposition of papers.
—Upon receiving the mentally-deficient person the superintendent
of the institution shall endorse upon the commitment papers the
fact that such mentally-deficient person has been received, naming
the person from whom the mentally-defictent person is received.
One copy of the commitment papers so endorsed shall be returned
to the clerk of the * court * * in which such commitment was
held, there to be filed in the office of the * judge and kept as pro-
vided in § 37-110.1 and another copy of the commitment papers
shall be kept by the superintendent, and the person delivering the
mentally-deficient person shall endorse thereon the fact of such
delivery.

§ 37-209. Notice of hearing of petition for removal or varia-
tion of order.—The superintendent of any State institution or
colony, or the person having charge of the mentally-deficient per-
son shall be notified of the time and place of hearing, upon any
petition for the removal of the mentally-defictent person from his
custody or for the variation of the order of commitment.

§ 37-210. Tests of mentality on admission to institution.—On
the admission of a mentally-deficient person into an institution, *
the superintendent of the institution shall cause the mental condi-
tion of such person to be examined, and such person placed under
special observation for a period of not less than * forty-five days
during which time such person shall be subjected to the Binet-
Simon measuring scale for intelligence, or some other approved
test of mentality, to be applied by the superintendent of the colony
and by an expert designated by him and approved by the State
Hospital Board. If, in their opinion, such person is not mentally-
deficient, or is not a suitable subject for care and treatment at the
colony or institution, he shall be returned to the city, county or
institution from which he was committed, at the expense of such
county, city, or institution.

§ 37-211. Commitment of persons before court or justice for
purpose other than inquiry into mental condition.—When a person
is brought before any circuit or corporation court, juvenile court, *
or other court of justice for any purpose other than an inquiry into
his mental condition, if it appears to the court upon the testimony
of one or more qualified physicians, or of an examiner skilled in
making mental tests, that such a person is mentally-defictent within
the meaning of the law, the judge or the justice shall direct an
officer of the court, or other suitable person, to file a petition under
this chapter. And the court, pending the preparation, filing and
hearing of such petition, may order that the person shall be de-
tained in a proper place of safety; or that he shall be placed under
the guardianship of some suitable person; or that he shall be com-
mitted to the department of the criminal mentally-ill at the appro-
priate institution, if he be charged with felony, or to the proper
State colony for the mentally-deficient if he be charged with a mis-
demeanor, for observation, under such limitations as it may order
pending the determination of the mental condition of such person
suspected of being mentally-deficient.

§ 37-212. Commitment of white person charged with lesser
felonies to Lynchburg State Colony.—Mentally-deficient white per-
sons not charged with the graver felonies, such as rape, homicide,
or * armed robbery, at the discretion of the superintendent of the
Lynchburg State Colony, and the State Hospital Board, may be
received into the Colony on regular commitment. In order that
the superintendent of the Lynchburg State Colony, and the State
Hospital Board, may be able to determine whether or not such
cases could properly be cared for in the aforesaid institution, the
presiding officer of the court before which the criminal person,
suspected of being mentally-deficient, appears shall transmit to
such superintendent and the Board, togther with the commitment
papers, a complete record of any prior criminal history of the sus-
pected person, together with a detailed account of the crime with
which such person stands charged before the court.

§ 37-218. Transfer of persons found to be a menace or unman-
ageable.—Any person received into the Lynchburg State Colony *
who after a suitable period of observation and study by the super-
intendent of the Colony is found to be, in the opinion of the
superintendent, a moral or social menace to the welfare of the
other inmates of the Colony, or unmanageable, shall, upon com-
plaint of the superintendent to the Board, be transferred to the
criminal department of the Southwestern State Hospital, or other
appropriate custodial institution to be determined by the Board.

§ 37-214. Transfer of persons under custody as mentally-
deficient, to mentally-ill hospital—When the mental condition of
any person under guardianship or custody as a mentally-deficient
person, pursuant to an order of a court, judge or justice * is found
to be such that he should be transferred to a hospital for the
mentally-ill, the superintendent of the institution in which the
patient may be, or any reputable citizen of the State, may institute
proceedings to have such person declared mentally-ill under the
law for such cases made and provided.

§ 37-215. Transfer of persons under custody as mentally-ill to
custody as mentally-deficient—When the mental condition of any
person under guardianship or custody as mentally-ll, under the
laws of this State, is found to be such that he should be transferred
to guardianship or custody as a mentally-deficient person, the super-
intendent of the institution in which such person may be, or any
citizen of the State, may file a petition * to have such person
adjudged mentally- deficient.

§ 37-215.1. Mentally-deficient to be returned.—If a mentally-
deficient person, not mentally-ill, be sent to or received in any hos-
pital for the mentally-ill, the superintendent thereof shall notify
his committee or legal representative, who shall promptly remove
him from the institution and may have him committed to the
appropriate colony for the mentally-deficient. The cost of trans-
portation of each mentally-deficient person to, and removal from,
the hospital shall be paid by the county or city In which he was
committed.

§ 37-216. Voluntary patients admitted.—The superintendent of
a State colony or other State institution for the care and treat-
ment of the mentally-deficient may, subject to the rules and regula-
tions established -by the State Hospital Board, receive and detain
therein, as a patient, any suitable person who is a legal resident
of the State, on the application of such person’s parent or legal
guardian. A person thus received as a voluntary patient at such
colony or institution shall be detained so long as the superintendent
and State Hospital Board deem advisable, provided that no indigent
patient who has been committed is thereby, on account of lack of
room, denied admission. The superintendent or physician in charge
of any State institution or colony for the mentally-deficient shall
report to the State Hospital Board the admission of a person by
such voluntary agreement, and forward to the Board a record of
such patient, in accordance with such rules and regulations as may
be established by the State Hospital Board.

§ 37-219. Furlough provisions as to mentally-ill and epileptic
apply to mentally-deficient.—The provisions of this title relative to
furloughing the mentally-ill and epileptic by the superintendents
of the State hospitals and colonies shall apply to mentally-deficient
persons in the respective colonies.

§ 37-221. Parole of certain mentally-deficient.—The superin-
tendent may parole on their own recognizance such mentally-
deficient persons of the higher mental grade, who in his opinion,
after due observation and proper treatment, are capable of earning
their own living and of conducting themselves in a law-abiding
manner. Such a paroled person shall designate to the superinten-
dent some proper person who will exercise supervision over him
and make reports at stated intervals to the superintendent as to
his health, conduet and employment. Any such paroled person
violating the provisions of the parole shall be arrested and re-
turned to such colony in the manner provided in this title for the
arrest and return of escaped mentally-ill persons.

§ 37-222. Release under bond.—The superintendent of any
colony for the mentally-deficient may in his discretion release and
deliver into the custody of any suitable person any mentally-de-
ficient person confined in the colony when a good and sufficient
bond with security to be approved by the superintendent has been
given conditioned to restrain, maintain and take proper care of the
person so released without expense to the Commonwealth or any
subdivision thereof and to return such person to the colony upon
demand of the superintendent.

§ 37-223. Discharge as not mentally-deficient.—When the sup-
erintendent of any colony for the mentally deficient is satisfied
after proper examination and due observation that any person
committed to the colony is not mentally-deficient within the mean-
ing of the law, he shall discharge such person as not mentally-de-
ficient within the meaning of the law and notify the * judge. of
the * court * from which such person was committed. The super-
intendent may discharge any mentally-deficient person released on
parole who, after sufficient time, has demonstrated his or her fit-
ness to be at large.

§ 37-224. Mentally-deficient women not to be received into
almshouses.—No mentally-deficient woman of child-bearing age
shall be received as an inmate of any almshouse of this State.
§ 37-225. Unlawful commitments.—Any person who shall
knowingly contrive or conspire to commit any person to an insti-
tution for the mentally-deficient, mentally-ill, epileptic or inebriate
unlawfully or maliciously shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and
upon conviction, shall be fined not exceeding one thousand dollars,
or confined in jail not exceeding one year, or both.

§ 37-226. Construction of words.—Wherever the word hospi-
tal is used in this title it shall be taken to mean State hospital!
for the mentally-ill, and wherever the word colony is used in this
title it shall be taken to mean the Lynchburg State Colony, the
Petersburg State Colony or the department for colored epileptics
at the Central State Hospital at Petersburg. Wherever the words
mentally-ill person occur in this title they shall be construed to in-
clude a mentally-ill person who is not mentally-deficient.

§ 37-231. Authority of superintendents.—Whenever the super-
intendent of the Western State Hospital, or of the Eastern State
Hospital, or of the Southwestern State Hospital, or of the Central
State Hospital, or of the Lynchburg State Colony, or of the Peters-
burg State Colony, shall be of opinion that it is for the best in-
terests of the patient and of society that any inmate of the institu-
tion under his care should be sexually sterilized, such superinten-
dent is hereby authorized to perform, or cause to be performed by
some capable physician or surgeon, the operation of sterilization
on any such patient confined in such institution afflicted with
hereditary forms of mental-illness that are recurrent, mental-de-
ficiency or epilepsy; provided that such superintendent shal] have
first complied with the requirements of this chapter.

§ 37-241. Findings and order of the Board.—The State Hos-
pital Board may deny the prayer of the petition or if it shall find
that the inmate is mentally-ill, mentally-deficient, or epileptic, and
by the laws of heredity is the probably potential parent of socially
inadequate offspring likewise afflicted, that the inmate may be
sexually sterilized without detriment to his or her general health,
and that the welfare of the inmate and of society will be promoted
by such sterilization, the Board may order such superintendent to
perform or to have performed by some competent physician to be
named in such order, upon the inmate, after not less than thirty
days from the date of such order, the operation of vasectomy if a
male or of salpingectomy if a female.

§ 37-249. Persons subject to chapter.—This chapter is applic-
able to any person alleged to be of unsound mind found in this
State, who has fled from another state, in which at the time of his
flight:

(a) He was under detention by law in a hospital, asvlum or
other institution for the mentally-ill as a person of unsound mind;
or
(b) He has been theretofore determined by legal proceedings
to be of unsound mind, the finding being unreversed and in full
force and effect, and the control of his person having been acquired
by a court of competent jurisdiction of the state from which he
fled; or |

(c) He was subject to detention in such state, being then his
legal domicile, personal service of process having been made, based
on legal proceedings there pending to have him declared of un-
sound mind.

§ 37-254. Authority of Board to grant and revoke licenses.—
The State Hospital Board may annually license any suitable person
to establish or maintain and operate, or to have charge of, any
private institution, hospital or home for the care or treatment of
mentally-ill, epileptic or mentally-deficient persons, or persons ad-
dicted to the intemperate use of narcotic drugs, alcohol or other
stimulants, and may at any time revoke for justifiable cause any
license so granted.

§ 37-254.1. Definitions.—As used in this title, the words “pri-
cate hospital”, “private institution” or “private sanitarium” shall
mean a private hospital, private institution or private sanitarium
which has been duly licensed pursuant to the provisions of this
title and whose license is in full force and effect.

§ 37-255. Qualifications of licensee.—No such license shall be
granted for the care or treatment of mentally-ill, mentally-deficient,
inebriate or epileptic persons unless the Board is satisfied, after
investigation, that the person applying therefor is a legally quali-
fied practitioner of medicine in the State of Virginia, and has had
practical experience in the care and treatment of such patients.
No license shall be granted for the care and treatment of persons
addicted to the intemperate use of narcotic drugs, alcohol or other
stimulants unless the Board is satisfied, after investigation, that
the person applying therefor is a graduate of a legally chartered
medical school or college and holds a certificate or license to prac-
tice medicine in Virginia, and that he has been in the actual prac-
tice of medicine for the three years next preceding the time at
which he applies for a license; nor unless his standing, character
and professional knowledge of inebriety are satisfactory to the
Board.

§ 37-257.1. No person shall be committed or placed in the
custody of any private hospital, institution or sanitarium undcr
the provisions of this title unless it be duly licensed by the Board.

§ 37-257.2. Every private hospital, institution and sanitarium
shall keep records of admission and other statistical data required
by the Board regarding patients admitted under the provisions of
this title and shall on request of the Commissioner or the Board
allow the Commissioner or his duly authorized agent to examine
such records. The person in charge of any private hospital, insti-
tution, or sanitarium shall, on request of the Commissioner, send
to the Commissioner or the Board such reports or statistical data
based on the records required to be kept under the provisions of
this section. For failure or refusal to comply with such request,
the Board may revoke or suspend the license of such private hos-
pital, institution or sanitarium.

§ 37-258. Operation without license unlawful.—It shall be
unlawful for any person to maintain or operate any private insti-
tution, hospital, or home for the care or treatment of mentally-ill,
epileptic or mentally-deficient persons, or for the care or treatment
of persons addicted to the intemperate use of narcotic drugs,
alcohol or other stimulants, unless such institution, hospital or home
is under the direct personal supervision of a person duly licensed
hereunder.

2. That §§ 37-43, 37-82 and 37-179 of the Code of 1950 are repealed.