19.2-182.5 - Review of continuation of confinement hearing; procedure and reports; disposition.
§ 19.2-182.5. Review of continuation of confinement hearing; procedure andreports; disposition.
A. The committing court shall conduct a hearing twelve months after the dateof commitment to assess the need for inpatient hospitalization of eachacquittee who is acquitted of a felony by reason of insanity. A hearing forassessment shall be conducted at yearly intervals for five years and atbiennial intervals thereafter. The court shall schedule the matter forhearing as soon as possible after it becomes due, giving the matter priorityover all pending matters before the court.
B. Prior to the hearing, the Commissioner shall provide to the court a reportevaluating the acquittee's condition and recommending treatment, to beprepared by a psychiatrist or a psychologist. The psychologist who preparesthe report shall be a clinical psychologist and any evaluating psychiatristor clinical psychologist shall be skilled in the diagnosis of mental illnessand qualified by training and experience to perform forensic evaluations. Ifthe examiner recommends release or the acquittee requests release, theacquittee's condition and need for inpatient hospitalization shall beevaluated by a second person with such credentials who is not currentlytreating the acquittee. A copy of any report submitted pursuant to thissubsection shall be sent to the attorney for the Commonwealth for thejurisdiction from which the acquittee was committed.
C. The acquittee shall be provided with adequate notice of the hearing, ofthe right to be present at the hearing, the right to the assistance ofcounsel in preparation for and during the hearing, and the right to introduceevidence and cross-examine witnesses at the hearing. Written notice of thehearing shall be provided to the attorney for the Commonwealth for thecommitting jurisdiction. The hearing is a civil proceeding.
According to the determination of the court following the hearing, and basedupon the report and other evidence provided at the hearing, the court shall(i) release the acquittee from confinement if he does not need inpatienthospitalization and does not meet the criteria for conditional release setforth in § 19.2-182.7, provided the court has approved a discharge planprepared jointly by the hospital staff and the appropriate community servicesboard or behavioral health authority; (ii) place the acquittee on conditionalrelease if he meets the criteria for conditional release, and the court hasapproved a conditional release plan prepared jointly by the hospital staffand the appropriate community services board or behavioral health authority;or (iii) order that he remain in the custody of the Commissioner if hecontinues to require inpatient hospitalization based on consideration of thefactors set forth in § 19.2-182.3.
D. An acquittee who is found not guilty of a misdemeanor by reason ofinsanity on or after July 1, 2002, shall remain in the custody of theCommissioner pursuant to this chapter for a period not to exceed one yearfrom the date of acquittal. If, prior to or at the conclusion of one year,the Commissioner determines that the acquittee meets the criteria forconditional release or release without conditions pursuant to § 19.2-182.7,emergency custody pursuant to § 37.2-808, temporary detention pursuant to §§37.2-809 to 37.2-813, or involuntary commitment pursuant to Article 5 (§37.2-814 et seq.) of Chapter 8 of Title 37.2, he shall petition thecommitting court. Written notice of an acquittee's scheduled release shall beprovided by the Commissioner to the attorney for the Commonwealth for thecommitting jurisdiction not less than thirty days prior to the scheduledrelease. The Commissioner's duty to file a petition upon such determinationshall not preclude the ability of any other person meeting the requirementsof § 37.2-808 to file the petition.
(1991, c. 427; 1993, c. 295; 1996, cc. 937, 980; 2002, c. 750; 2007, cc. 485,565.)