ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2033
(By Delegates Linch, Pino, Trump and Staton)

[Passed March 11, 1995; in effect ninety days from passage.]

AN ACT to amend and reenact sections three and four, article six- a, chapter twenty-seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend said article by adding thereto a new section, designated section nine, all relating to the commitment of mentally ill, mentally retarded or addicted persons charged with a crime.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections three and four, article six-a, chapter twenty- seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said article be further amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section nine, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6A. COMMITMENT OF PERSONS CHARGED OR CONVICTED OF A CRIME.

§27-6A-3. Court jurisdiction over persons found not guilty by

reason of mental illness, mental retardation or addiction.
(a) After the entry of a judgment of not guilty by reason of mental illness, mental retardation or addiction, the court of record shall determine on the record the offense of which the person otherwise would have been convicted, and the maximum sentence he could have received. The court shall commit such defendant to a mental health facility under the jurisdiction of the department of health, with the court retaining jurisdiction over the defendant for the maximum sentence period.
(b) If the defendant is released from an inpatient mental health facility while under the jurisdiction of the court, the court may impose such conditions as are necessary to protect the safety of the public.
27-6A-4. Release from jurisdiction of the court; discharge.
(a) No later than thirty days prior to the release of a defendant because of the expiration of the court's jurisdiction, if the defendant's supervising physician believes that the defendant's mental illness or mental retardation or addiction causes the defendant to be dangerous to self or others, the supervising physician shall notify the prosecuting attorney in the county of the court having jurisdiction of such opinion and the basis therefor. Following this notification, the prosecuting attorney shall file a civil commitment application against the defendant, pursuant to article five of this chapter.
(b) The court may discharge a mentally ill or addicted defendant from the court's period of jurisdiction prior to the expiration of the period specified in this section only when the court finds that the person is no longer mentally ill or addicted and that the person is no longer a danger to self or others. The court may discharge a mentally retarded defendant from the court's period of jurisdiction prior to the expiration of the period specified in this section only when the court finds that the person is no longer a danger to self or others. However, a defendant may not be released from the jurisdiction of the court when the defendant's mental illness is in remission solely as a result of medication or hospitalization or other mode of treatment if it can be determined within a reasonable degree of medical certainty that without continued therapy or hospitalization or other mode of treatment, the defendant's mental illness will make him a danger to self or others.
(c) Those persons committed under the provisions of this article may be released or discharged from the in-patient mental health facility only upon entry of an order from the court of record which committed the defendant finding that the defenant will not be a danger to self or others if so released, based upon the evidence introduced at the hearing.
(d) The court shall promptly conduct a hearing after receipt of the physician's notification referred to in subsection (a) of this section. The clerk shall notify the prosecuting attorney and the victim or next of kin of the victim of the offense for which the person was committed of the hearing. The burden shall be on the victim or next of kin to the victim to keep the court apprised of that person's current mailing address.
§27-6A-9. Development of conditional release plans.
The department of health shall, on or before the first day of the regular session of the Legislature in the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-six, provide to the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Delegates a complete proposed plan for the implementation of a conditional release or outpatient status program for persons committed to an inpatient mental health facility due to having been judicially determined to be not guilty by reason of insanity, incompetence to stand trial or civilly committed after having been judicially determined to be a danger to self or others.