                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

PLACEMENT OF COMMITTED RESPONDENTS (§ 37.2-909)

A. Any respondent committed pursuant to this chapter shall be placed in the
custody of the Department for control, care, and treatment until such time as
the respondent&#8217;s mental abnormality or personality disorder has so changed
that the respondent will not present an undue risk to public safety. The
Department shall provide such control, care, and treatment at a secure facility
operated by it or may contract with private or public entities, in or outside of
the Commonwealth, or with other states to provide comparable control, care, or
treatment. At all times, respondents committed for control, care, and treatment
by the Department pursuant to this chapter shall be kept in a secure facility.
Respondents committed under this chapter shall be segregated by sight and sound
at all times from prisoners in the custody of a correctional facility. The
Commissioner may make treatment and management decisions regarding committed
respondents in his custody without obtaining prior approval of or review by the
committing court.

B. Prior to the siting of a new facility or the designation of an existing
facility to be operated by the Department for the control, care, and treatment
of committed respondents, the Commissioner shall notify the state elected
officials for and the local governing body of the jurisdiction of the proposed
location, designation, or expansion of the facility. Upon receiving such notice,
the local governing body of the jurisdiction of the proposed site or where the
existing facility is located may publish a descriptive notice concerning the
proposed site or existing facility in a newspaper of general circulation in the
jurisdiction.
			The Commissioner also shall establish an advisory committee relating to any
facility for which notice is required by this subsection or any facility being
operated for the purpose of the control, care, and treatment of committed
respondents. The advisory committee shall consist of state and local elected
officials and representatives of community organizations serving the
jurisdiction in which the facility is proposed to be or is located. Upon
request, the members of the appropriate advisory committee shall be notified
whenever the Department increases the number of beds in the relevant facility.

C. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when any respondent is committed
under this article, the Department of Corrections and the Office of the Attorney
General shall provide to the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental
Services, a copy of all relevant criminal history information, medical and
mental health records, presentence or postsentence reports and victim impact
statements, and the mental health evaluations performed pursuant to subsection B
of &#xA7; 37.2-904 and &#xA7; 37.2-907, for use in the treatment and evaluation
of the committed respondent.

HISTORY: 1999, cc. 946, 985, § 37.1-70.10; 2001, c. 776; 2003, cc. 989, 1018;
2004, c. 707; 2005, cc. 716, 914; 2009, cc. 740, 813, 840.