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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>83491</law_id><section_number>37.2-816</section_number><catch_line>(Effective July 1, 2026) Commitment hearing for involuntary admission; preadmission screening report</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>19.2-169.6</reference><reference>37.2-809</reference><reference>37.2-814</reference><reference>37.2-817</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="37.2">Behavioral Health and Developmental Services</unit><unit label="subtitle" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="III">Admissions and Dispositions</unit><unit label="chapter" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="8">Emergency Custody and Voluntary and Involuntary Civil Admissions</unit><unit label="article" level="4" order_by="1" identifier="5">Involuntary Admissions</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p>The district <span class="dictionary">court</span> <span class="dictionary">judge</span> or <span class="dictionary">special justice</span> shall require a preadmission screening report from the <span class="dictionary">community services board</span> that serves the county or city where the person resides or, if impractical, where the person is located. The report shall be admitted as <span class="dictionary">evidence</span> of the <span class="dictionary">facts</span> stated therein and shall <span class="dictionary">state</span> (i) whether the person has a <span class="dictionary">mental illness</span> and whether there exists a substantial likelihood that, as a result of <span class="dictionary">mental illness</span>, the person will, in the near future, (a) cause serious physical harm to himself or others as evidenced by recent behavior causing, attempting, or threatening harm and other relevant information, if any, or (b) suffer serious harm due to his lack of capacity to protect himself from harm or to provide for his basic human needs; (ii) whether the person is in need of involuntary inpatient treatment; (iii) whether there is no less restrictive alternative to inpatient treatment; (iv) the recommendations for that person&#x2019;s placement, care, and treatment including, where appropriate, recommendations for mandatory outpatient treatment; and (v) if the person is found not to meet the involuntary admission criteria, a recommendation as to whether referral of the person to a community-based outpatient stabilization program for voluntary treatment would be appropriate. The board shall provide the preadmission screening report to the <span class="dictionary">court</span> prior to the <span class="dictionary">hearing</span>, and the report shall be admitted into <span class="dictionary">evidence</span> and made part of the record of the case. In the case of a person who has been sentenced and committed to the <span class="dictionary">Department</span> of Corrections and who has been examined by a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist, the <span class="dictionary">judge</span> or <span class="dictionary">special justice</span> may proceed to <span class="dictionary">adjudicate</span> whether the person has <span class="dictionary">mental illness</span> and should be involuntarily admitted without requesting a preadmission screening report from the <span class="dictionary">community services board</span>.</p></section></text><history>1976, c. 671, &#xA7; 37.1-67.3; 1979, c. 426; 1980, cc. 166, 582; 1982, c. 471; 1984, c. 277; 1985, c. 261; 1986, cc. 349, 609; 1988, c. 225; 1989, c. 716; 1990, cc. 59, 60, 728, 798; 1991, c. 636; 1992, c. 752; 1994, cc. 736, 907; 1995, cc. 489, 668, 844; 1996, cc. 343, 893; 1997, cc. 558, 921; 1998, c. 446; 2001, cc. 478, 479, 507, 658, 837; 2004, cc. 66, 1014; 2005, c. 716; 2008, cc. 779, 850, 870; 2009, cc. 21, 838; 2024, c. 780; 2025, c. 504.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
