CHAPTER 154

AN ACT to amend and renact $§ $7-61.1, 37-64, 37-99, 37-102, 37-109,
46-418 as amended, and 46-426 of the Code of Virginia, relating to
methods of commitment, composition of commissions, representation
by counsel, appeals from commitment, and effects of commitment,
including revocation or suspension of motor vehicle operators’ and
chauffeurs’ licenses.

[S 59]

Approved March 3, 1958

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 37-61.1, 37-64, 37-99, 37-102, 37-109, 46-418 as amended, and
46-426 of the Code of Virginia, be amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 37-61.1. (a) Any person alleged or certified to be mentally ill or
mentally defective and in need of institutional 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.

(b) In any proceeding for commitment under the provisions of this
article, the person whose commitment is being sought shall have the right
to be represented, at his own expense, by counsel of his choice. The judge
upon whose warrant such proceeding is being held shall explain to the
person being examined, if he is of such age and mental condition as to be
able to understand, the nature and effect of the proceeding, that he has a
right to be represented by counsel, and that he may have summoned a
physician of his choice as provided by § 37-64.

§ 37-64. If the two physicians summoned under § 37-62 do not agree,
a third physician shall be summoned. If the person being examined request
it, there shall also be summoned a physician of his choice, who shall sit with
and be a member of the commission; provided, that the fee and expense of
such physician shall be paid by the person being examined.

§ 37-99. The judge of any circuit or corporation court, or any *
judge of a county or municipal court 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, may commit to any State hospital * for
observation as to his mental condition, any suitable person in his county or
city who is * not an inebriate or drug addict. Such person shall be entitled
to be represented by counsel, at his own expense, at the hearing before
the judge, and to have a physician of his choice summoned, as pro-
vided in § 37-64. A commitment under this section shall not be deemed a
final adjudication of the mental condition of the person committed, and
shall not affect any right or privilege theretofore possessed by such person
under the laws of this Commonwealth.

§ 37-102. Any person in a State Hospital * admitted under this article
for observation may be committed as mentally ill, epileptic or mentally
deficient by the judge * 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 anyone. Any com-
mitment under this section may be appealed as provided by § 37-71.1.

§ 37-109. If any person admitted under §§ 37-103 to 37-106 is found
upon observation to be mentally ill, epileptic or mentally deficient within
forty-five days after he is admitted to the hospital*, he may be committed
as provided in Article 1 of the chapter. The superintendent of the hos-
pital * to which the person has been admitted shall notify the judge of the
circuit or corporation court, or * judge of the county or city court from
which the person was received. The superintendent shall forward with
the notification two copies of the medical certificate and the order of
commitment.

§ 46-418. The Commissioner, upon receipt of notice that any person
has been legally adjudged to be mentally ill, epileptic, or mentally deficient,
shall forthwith revoke his license, but he shall not revoke the license if
the person has been adjudged competent by judicial order or decree, or
discharged as * recovered from an institution for the mentally ill, epileptic,
or mentally deficient * or, having been committed as mentally ill is found
after examination to be not mentally ill.

In any case in which the person’s license has been revoked or suspended
prior to his release it shall not be returned to him unless the Commissioner
is satisfied after an examination such as is required of applicants by
§ 46-365 that * such person is competent to operate a motor vehicle with
safety to persons and property * .

The clerk of the court in which any such adjudication is made shall
forthwith send a certified copy or abstract thereof to the Commissioner.

§ 46-426. Every such suspension or revocation shall remain in effect
and the Commissioner shall not issue to such person any new or renewal
license or register in his name any motor vehicle, until permitted under
the provisions of this chapter and only then if he gives proof of his
financial responsibility in the future as provided in this chapter, except
that when five years shall have elapsed from the date of the termination
of the revocation provided by § 46-416 or § 46-417, such person may be
relieved of giving proof of his financial responsibility in the future, pro-
vided such person is not required to furnish or maintain proof of financial
responsibility under any other provision of this chapter. The requirement
of this section for giving and maintaining proof of financial responsibility
shall not, however, apply in the case of a person whose license has been
revoked under § 46-418.