                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH DOCKET ACT (§ 18.2-254.3)

A. This section shall be known and may be cited as the &#8220;Behavioral Health
Docket Act.&#8221;

B. The General Assembly recognizes the critical need to promote public safety
and reduce recidivism by addressing co-occurring behavioral health issues, such
as mental illness and substance abuse, related to persons in the criminal
justice system. It is the intention of the General Assembly to enhance public
safety by facilitating the creation of behavioral health dockets to accomplish
this purpose.

C. The goals of behavioral health dockets shall include (i) reducing recidivism;
(ii) increasing personal, familial, and societal accountability among offenders
through ongoing judicial intervention; (iii) addressing mental illness and
substance abuse that contribute to criminal behavior and recidivism; and (iv)
promoting effective planning and use of resources within the criminal justice
system and community agencies. Behavioral health dockets promote outcomes that
will benefit not only the offender but society as well.

D. Behavioral health dockets are specialized criminal court dockets within the
existing structure of Virginia&#8217;s court system that enable the judiciary to
manage its workload more efficiently. Under the leadership and regular
interaction of presiding judges, and through voluntary offender participation,
behavioral health dockets shall address offenders with mental health conditions
and drug addictions that contribute to criminal behavior. Behavioral health
dockets shall employ evidence-based practices to diagnose behavioral health
illness and provide treatment, enhance public safety, reduce recidivism, ensure
offender accountability, and promote offender rehabilitation in the community.
Local officials shall complete a planning process recognized by the state
behavioral health docket advisory committee before establishing a behavioral
health docket program.

E. Administrative oversight of implementation of the Behavioral Health Docket
Act shall be conducted by the Supreme Court of Virginia. The Supreme Court of
Virginia shall be responsible for (i) providing oversight of the distribution of
funds for behavioral health dockets; (ii) providing technical assistance to
behavioral health dockets; (iii) providing training to judges who preside over
behavioral health dockets; (iv) providing training to the providers of
administrative, case management, and treatment services to behavioral health
dockets; and (v) monitoring the completion of evaluations of the effectiveness
and efficiency of behavioral health dockets in the Commonwealth.

F. A state behavioral health docket advisory committee shall be established in
the judicial branch. The committee shall be chaired by the Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court of Virginia, who shall appoint a vice-chair to act in his absence.
The membership of the committee shall include a behavioral health circuit court
judge, a behavioral health general district court judge, a behavioral health
juvenile and domestic relations district court judge, the Executive Secretary of
the Supreme Court or his designee, the Governor or his designee, and a
representative from each of the following entities: the Commonwealth&#8217;s
Attorneys&#8217; Services Council, the Virginia Court Clerks&#8217; Association,
the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission, the Department of Behavioral Health
and Developmental Services, the Virginia Organization of Consumers Asserting
Leadership, a community services board or behavioral health authority, and a
local community-based probation and pretrial services agency.

G. Each jurisdiction or combination of jurisdictions that intend to establish a
behavioral health docket or continue the operation of an existing behavioral
health docket shall establish a local behavioral health docket advisory
committee. Jurisdictions that establish separate adult and juvenile behavioral
health dockets may establish an advisory committee for each such docket. Each
local behavioral health docket advisory committee shall ensure quality,
efficiency, and fairness in the planning, implementation, and operation of the
behavioral health dockets that serve the jurisdiction or combination of
jurisdictions. Advisory committee membership may include, but shall not be
limited to, the following persons or their designees: (i) the behavioral health
docket judge; (ii) the attorney for the Commonwealth or, where applicable, the
city or county attorney who has responsibility for the prosecution of
misdemeanor offenses; (iii) the public defender or a member of the local
criminal defense bar in jurisdictions in which there is no public defender; (iv)
the clerk of the court in which the behavioral health docket is located; (v) a
representative of the Virginia Department of Corrections or the Department of
Juvenile Justice, or both, from the local office that serves the jurisdiction or
combination of jurisdictions; (vi) a representative of a local community-based
probation and pretrial services agency; (vii) a local law-enforcement officer;
(viii) a representative of the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental
Services or a representative of local treatment providers, or both; (ix) a
representative of the local community services board or behavioral health
authority; (x) the behavioral health docket administrator; (xi) a public health
official; (xii) the county administrator or city manager; (xiii) a certified
peer recovery specialist; and (xiv) any other persons selected by the local
behavioral health docket advisory committee.

H. Each local behavioral health docket advisory committee shall establish
criteria for the eligibility and participation of offenders who have been
determined to have problems with drug addiction, mental illness, or related
issues. The committee shall ensure the use of a comprehensive, valid, and
reliable screening instrument to assess whether the individual is a candidate
for a behavioral health docket. Once an individual is identified as a candidate
appropriate for a behavioral health court docket, a full diagnosis and treatment
plan shall be prepared by qualified professionals.
			Subject to the provisions of this section, neither the establishment of a
behavioral health docket nor anything in this section shall be construed as
limiting the discretion of the attorney for the Commonwealth to prosecute any
criminal case arising therein that he deems advisable to prosecute, except to
the extent that the participating attorney for the Commonwealth agrees to do so.

I. Each local behavioral health docket advisory committee shall establish
policies and procedures for the operation of the docket to attain the following
goals: (i) effective integration of appropriate treatment services with criminal
justice system case processing; (ii) enhanced public safety through intensive
offender supervision and treatment; (iii) prompt identification and placement of
eligible participants; (iv) efficient access to a continuum of related treatment
and rehabilitation services; (v) verified participant abstinence through
frequent alcohol and other drug testing and mental health status assessments,
where applicable; (vi) prompt response to participants&#8217; noncompliance with
program requirements through a coordinated strategy; (vii) ongoing judicial
interaction with each behavioral health docket participant; (viii) ongoing
monitoring and evaluation of program effectiveness and efficiency; (ix) ongoing
interdisciplinary education and training in support of program effectiveness and
efficiency; and (x) ongoing collaboration among behavioral health dockets,
public agencies, and community-based organizations to enhance program
effectiveness and efficiency.

J. If there is cause for concern that a defendant was experiencing a crisis
related to a mental health or substance abuse disorder then his case will be
referred, if such referral is appropriate, to a behavioral health docket to
determine eligibility for participation. Participation by an offender in a
behavioral health docket shall be voluntary and made pursuant only to a written
agreement entered into by and between the offender and the Commonwealth with the
concurrence of the court. If an offender determined to be eligible to
participate in a behavioral health docket resides in a locality other than that
in which the behavioral health docket is located, or such offender desires to
move to a locality other than that in which the behavioral health docket is
located, and the court determines it is practicable and appropriate, the
supervision of such offender may be transferred to a supervising agency in the
new locality. If the receiving agency accepts the transfer, it shall confirm in
writing that it can and will comply with all of the conditions of supervision of
the behavioral health docket, including the frequency of in-person and other
contact with the offender and updates from the offender&#8217;s treatment
providers. If the receiving agency cannot comply with the conditions of
supervision, the agency shall deny the transfer in writing and the sending
agency shall notify the court. Where supervision is transferred, the sending
agency shall be responsible for providing reports on an offender&#8217;s
conduct, treatment, and compliance with the conditions of supervision to the
court.

K. An offender may be required to contribute to the cost of the treatment he
receives while participating in a behavioral health docket pursuant to
guidelines developed by the local behavioral health docket advisory committee.

L. Nothing contained in this section shall confer a right or an expectation of a
right to treatment for an offender or be construed as requiring a local
behavioral health docket advisory committee to accept for participation every
offender.

M. The Office of the Executive Secretary shall, with the assistance of the state
behavioral health docket advisory committee, develop a statewide evaluation
model and conduct ongoing evaluations of the effectiveness and efficiency of all
behavioral health dockets. The Executive Secretary shall submit an annual report
of these evaluations to the General Assembly by December 1 of each year. The
annual report shall be submitted as a report document as provided in the
procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing
of legislative documents and reports and shall be posted on the General
Assembly&#8217;s website. Each local behavioral health docket advisory committee
shall submit evaluative reports, as provided by the Behavioral/Mental Health
Docket Advisory Committee, to the Office of the Executive Secretary as
requested.

HISTORY: 2020, c. 1096; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 191.