2018 Virginia General Assembly
Legislative Highlights
February 7, 2018
The mission of the disAbility Law Center of Virginia is to advance independence, choice and self-determination; protect legal, human and civil rights; and eliminate abuse, neglect and discrimination of people with disabilities through zealous and uncompromising legal advocacy and representation.
Crossover happens on Wednesday, February 14, 2018. On that date, any bill that has not been heard in and passed through the house of origin is effectively defeated. With that in mind, here is the status of some of the mental health bills that have been before the Virginia Legislature:
Relating to Suicide
HB 569 (Gooditis) requires the Department of Behavioral Health to provide an annual report on suicide prevention activities. Approved by full House of Delegates.
HB 42 (Kory) would have eliminated the common-law crime of suicide. Defeated by subcommittee # 1 of House Courts of Justice.
Relating to NGRI or incompetent to stand trial status
HB 52 (Hope) allows for an evaluation of whether someone is competent to stand trial to be done on an outpatient basis if appropriate. Approved by the House Courts of Justice.
HB 53 (Hope) allows for an evaluation of whether someone is “not guilty by reason of insanity” to be done on an outpatient basis if appropriate. Approved by the full House of Delegates and assigned now to the Senate Committee on Courts of Justice.
HB 1193 (Bell, Robert) requires that a person convicted of a crime and also found to be not guilty by reason of insanity must be incarcerated after any period of inpatient mental health treatment. An amended version of the bill was approved by House Courts of Justice. The amended reverses the order in the proposed legislation, stating instead that the individual will serve their correctional time first, and then be transferred to a hospital for inpatient treatment.
Relating to the death penalty
HB 758 (Leftwich) prohibits the use of the death penalty for someone who is severely mentally ill. Assigned to House Courts of Justice. The Senate companion bill (SB 802 – Favola) was defeated in Senate Courts of Justice.
Relating to forced mental health treatment
HB 933 (Hope) extends the time period for an order of mandatory outpatient treatment from 3 to 6 months. The House Courts of Justice, subcommittee #2, recommended carrying this bill over to 2019, with a request to the SJ 47 work group to study the question.
HB 935 (Hope) removes the requirement that an individual be willing to cooperate in an order of mandatory treatment. The House Courts of Justice, subcommittee #2, recommended carrying this bill over to 2019, with a request to the SJ 47 work group to study the question.
Other mental health bills
SB 392 (Barker) eases the requirement that a parent must get notice if a minor is subject to an emergency custody order. Current law requires a petition for TDO be dismissed if the parent does not get notice. The proposed change allows the petition to proceed so long as a reasonable effort was made to provide notice. Approved by the full Senate.
HB 517 (Bell, Rob), like SB 392 above, would ease the requirement that a parent must get notice if a minor is subject to an emergency custody order. The bill was laid on the table by House Court of Justice, subcommittee #2.
HB 1412 (Helsel) requires fire fighters and emergency personnel to develop training curricula about mental health. Approved by the House Committee on Militia, Police, and Public safety.
SB 670 (Deeds) requires firefighters and emergency personnel to develop training in mental health awareness. Approved by the full Senate, and now assigned to the House Committee on Police, Militia and Public Safety.
SJ 14 (Edwards) calls for a study into alternative methods of emergency detention and temporary detention. Assigned to the Senate Committee on Rules.
The disAbility law Center of Virginia is monitoring developments in the legislature that may be of interest to people with disabilities. We are available to educate policymakers about the potential impact of legislative proposals. All proposed bills are now available to the public on-line. Please let us know of any legislative proposals or budget issues that you think we should be following. Contact us at info@dlcv.org or by calling 1-800-552-3962 or 804-225-2042.