                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

EMERGENCY CUSTODY OF CONDITIONALLY RELEASED RESPONDENTS; REVOCATION OF
CONDITIONAL RELEASE (§ 37.2-913)

A. A judicial officer may issue an emergency custody order, upon the sworn
petition of any responsible person or upon his own motion, based upon probable
cause to believe that a respondent on conditional release within his judicial
district has violated the conditions of his release and is no longer a proper
subject for conditional release. The judicial officer shall forward a copy of
the petition and the emergency custody order to the circuit court that
conditionally released the respondent, the Attorney General, the Department, and
the attorney for the Commonwealth for the locality that is the location of the
respondent&#8217;s residence. Petitions and orders for emergency custody of
conditionally released respondents pursuant to this section may be filed,
issued, served, or executed by electronic means, with or without the use of
two-way electronic video and audio communication, and returned in the same
manner with the same force, effect, and authority as an original document. All
signatures thereon shall be treated as original signatures.

B. The emergency custody order shall require a law-enforcement officer to take
the respondent into custody immediately. A law-enforcement officer may lawfully
go to or be sent beyond the territorial limits of the county, city, or town in
which he serves to any point in the Commonwealth for the purpose of executing an
emergency custody order pursuant to this section. The respondent shall be
transported to a secure facility specified by the Department where a person
designated by the Department who is skilled in the diagnosis and risk assessment
of sex offenders and knowledgeable about the treatment of sex offenders shall,
as soon as practicable, perform a mental health examination of the respondent,
including a personal interview. The mental health evaluator shall consider the
criteria in &#xA7; 37.2-912 and shall opine whether the respondent remains
suitable for conditional release. The evaluator shall report his findings and
conclusions in writing to the Department, the Office of the Attorney General,
counsel for the respondent, and the court in which the petition was filed. The
evaluator&#8217;s report shall become part of the record in the case.

C. The respondent on conditional release shall remain in custody until a hearing
is held in the circuit court that conditionally released the respondent on the
motion or petition to determine if he should be returned to the custody of the
Commissioner. The hearing shall be given priority on the court&#8217;s docket.

D. The respondent&#8217;s failure to comply with the conditions of release,
including outpatient treatment, may be admitted into evidence. The evaluator
designated in subsection B may be permitted to testify at the hearing as to his
diagnosis, his opinion as to whether the respondent remains suitable for
conditional release, his recommendation as to treatment and supervision, and the
basis for his opinions. If upon hearing the evidence, the court finds that the
respondent on conditional release has violated the conditions of his release and
that the violation of conditions was sufficient to render him no longer suitable
for conditional release, the court shall revoke his conditional release and
order him returned to the custody of the Commissioner for secure inpatient
treatment. The respondent may petition the court for re-release pursuant to the
conditions set forth in &#xA7; 37.2-911 no sooner than six months from his
return to custody. The respondent petitioning for re-release shall transmit a
copy of the petition to the Attorney General, the Commissioner, and the attorney
for the Commonwealth for the locality that is the proposed location of the
respondent&#8217;s residence.

HISTORY: 1999, cc. 946, 985, § 37.1-70.14; 2001, c. 776; 2003, cc. 989, 1018;
2005, cc. 51, 716; 2009, c. 740; 2011, c. 42; 2015, c. 662.