                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

COMMITMENT; CIVIL PROCEEDINGS (§ 19.2-182.3)

Upon receipt of the evaluation report and, if applicable, a conditional release
or discharge plan, the court shall schedule the matter for hearing on an
expedited basis, giving the matter priority over other civil matters before the
court, to determine the appropriate disposition of the acquittee. Except as
otherwise ordered by the court, the attorney who represented the defendant at
the criminal proceedings shall represent the acquittee through the proceedings
pursuant to this section. The matter may be continued on motion of either party
for good cause shown. The acquittee shall be provided with adequate notice of
the hearing, of the right to be present at the hearing, the right to the
assistance of counsel in preparation for and during the hearing, and the right
to introduce evidence and cross-examine witnesses at the hearing. The hearing is
a civil proceeding.
		At the conclusion of the hearing, the court shall commit the acquittee if it
finds that he has mental illness or intellectual disability and is in need of
inpatient hospitalization. For the purposes of this chapter, mental illness
includes any mental illness, as defined in § 37.2-100, in a state of remission
when the illness may, with reasonable probability, become active. The decision
of the court shall be based upon consideration of the following factors:

1. To what extent the acquittee has mental illness or intellectual disability,
as those terms are defined in &#xA7; 37.2-100;

2. The likelihood that the acquittee will engage in conduct presenting a
substantial risk of bodily harm to other persons or to himself in the
foreseeable future;

3. The likelihood that the acquittee can be adequately controlled with
supervision and treatment on an outpatient basis; and

4. Such other factors as the court deems relevant.
			If the court determines that an acquittee does not need inpatient
hospitalization solely because of treatment or habilitation he is currently
receiving, but the court is not persuaded that the acquittee will continue to
receive such treatment or habilitation, it may commit him for inpatient
hospitalization. The court shall order the acquittee released with conditions
pursuant to &#xA7;&#xA7; 19.2-182.7, 19.2-182.8, and 19.2-182.9 if it finds that
he is not in need of inpatient hospitalization but that he meets the criteria
for conditional release set forth in &#xA7; 19.2-182.7. If the court finds that
the acquittee does not need inpatient hospitalization nor does he meet the
criteria for conditional release, it shall release him without conditions,
provided the court has approved a discharge plan prepared by the appropriate
community services board or behavioral health authority in consultation with the
appropriate hospital staff.
			The court shall order that any person acquitted by reason of insanity and
committed pursuant to this section who is sentenced to a term of incarceration
for any other offense in the same proceeding or in any proceeding conducted
prior to the proceeding in which the person is acquitted by reason of insanity
complete any sentence imposed for such other offense prior to being placed in
the custody of the Commissioner of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services
until released from commitment pursuant to this chapter. The court shall order
that any person acquitted by reason of insanity and committed pursuant to this
section who is sentenced to a term of incarceration in any proceeding conducted
during the period of commitment be transferred to the custody of the
correctional facility where he is to serve his sentence, and, upon completion of
his sentence, such person shall be placed in the custody of the Commissioner of
Behavioral Health and Developmental Services until released from commitment
pursuant to this chapter.

HISTORY: 1991, c. 427; 1993, c. 295; 2005, c. 716; 2012, cc. 476, 507; 2018, c.
768.