CHAPTER 715

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 19.1-228, 19.1-230, 19.1-230.1, 19.1-281,
19.1-234, 19.1-235 and 19.1-287, as severally amended, of the Code of
Virginia; and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Article 5 of
Chapter 9 of Title 19.1 a section numbered 19.1-239.1, the amended
and new sections relating to proceedings on question of insanity of
persons accused of certain crimes.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 19.1-228, 19.1-230, 19.1-230.1, 19.1-231, 19.1-234, 19.1-235 and
19.1-237, as severally amended, of the Code of Virginia, be amended and
reenacted; and that the Code of Virginia be amended by adding in Article
5 of Chapter 9 of Title 19.1 a section numbered 19.1-239.1, as follows:

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

§ 19.1-230. If any such person committed for observation pursuant
to § 19.1-228 or § 19.1-229 to the department for the criminal insane at
the proper hospital is, in the opinion of the superintendent, not insane or
feebleminded, or when such person, if insane, has been restored to sanity,
the superintendent shall give * notice in writing to the clerk of the court
from which such person was committed, * and such clerk shall forthwith
issue a praecipe to the officer of the court, directing him forthwith to bring
the person from the hospital and commit him to the jail or custody from
which he was removed, where he shall be held in accordance with the terms
of the process by which he was originally committed or confined.

§ 19.1-230.1. If any person so committed for observation pursuant
to § 19.1-228 or § 19.1-229 to the department for the criminal insane at
the proper hospital is, in the opinion of the superintendent, insane or
feebleminded, the superintendent shall report such finding to the court
from which such person was committed but shall retain custody of such
person subject to the further order of the court. And upon receiving such
report the court * shall appoint a commission of not to exceed three physi-
cians, skilled in the diagnosis of insanity and feeblemindedness, any or
all of whom may be from the staff of the hospital where the person is
committed for observation, who shall inquire into the fact as to the sanity
or mentality of such person and report their findings to the court.

§ 19.1-231. If the commission find the accused to be sane at the time
of their examination, they shall make no other inquiry and * the superin-
tendent of the hospital where the accused is committed for observation shall
give notice in writing to the clerk of the court from which such person was
committed and such clerk shall forthwith issue a praecipe to the officer of
the court, requiring him to forthwith bring the prisoner from the hospital
and commit him to the jail or custody from which he was removed, where
he shall be held in accordance with the terms of the process by which he
was originally committed or confined. If the commission find that he is
insane or feebleminded at the time of their examination the court shall
order him to be confined in the department for criminal insane at the
proper hospital until he * has been restored * to sanity.

§ 19.1-234. If, after conviction and before sentence of any person,
the court see reasonable ground to doubt his sanity or mentality, it may
appoint a commission * of not to exceed three physicians to inquire into the
fact as to his sanity or mentality and may sentence him or commit him to
jail or to the proper hospital for the insane as set forth in § 19.1-228 accord-
ing as the commission may find him to be sane or insane or feebleminded.
If committed to a proper hospital for the insane, he shall be retained until
he is restored to sanity; and the time such person is confined to such
hospital shall be deducted from any term for which he may be sentenced to
any penal institution, reformatory or elsewhere.

§ 19.1-235. If any person, after conviction * and sentencing for any
crime, or while serving sentence in the State penitentiary, or any penal
institution, or in any reformatory or elsewhere, is declared by a jury or
commission of insanity to be insane or feebleminded, he shall be com-
mitted by the court to the department for the criminal insane at the proper
hospital, and there kept until he is restored to sanity; and the time such
person is confined in the department for the criminal insane at the proper
hospital shall be deducted from the term for which he was sentenced to
such penal institution, reformatory or elsewhere.

_ § 19.1-237. When the superintendent of a State hospital for the

insane shall give notice to the clerk of the court, in pursuance of § 37-93,

such clerk forthwith shall issue a precept to the officer of the court, requir-

iy “tig forthwith to bring the prisoner from the hospital and commit him
jail.

. § 19.1-239.1. (a) In any proceeding for commitment under this
title, the judge before whom such proceeding is being held, or upon whose
order such proceeding is held, shall ascertain if the person whose commit-
ment is sought is represented by counsel. If such person is not represented
by counsel, the judge shall appoint an attorney at law to represent such
person in such proceeding. For his services rendered therein, the attorney
shall receive a fee of twenty-five dollars to be paid by the State.

(b) Any attorney representing any person in any proceeding for
commitment under this title shall prior to such proceeding, personally
consult with such person, unless the judge presiding certifies that in his
opinion such consultation would serve no useful purpose. Such certification
if made shall become a part of the record of the proceeding.